A Fully Researched Award For Heroic Combat In North Korea.

[CtahhR]

Here is "Old Baldy" now. Just inside the DPRK.

[desantnik]

And to think, you don't need to translate any of this...

[CtahhR]

If this did need translating (except from American into English) I don't think I would have bothered trying to present it at all. The sheer depth and use of abbrs is a hurdle that can not always be jumped.

I tried to leave spelling and administrative errors in to be truer to the original documents - these errors may have been a real sticking point if translation was involved. "Pork Cohp" means absolutely nothing out of context.

This is an example of just how deep research into the situation in which a decoration was awarded can be. This is just 4 days or so of research on the award. I am sure I could get the S-2, S-3 and other more detailed reports for the day during which he was wounded etc. from various levels - maybe later. There may be citations for Soviet Military (and sometimes Civilian) Awards as here but I have never seen any Unit Reports of the situation in question presented with them.

It is also proof positive as to just how the date system works. Day, Month, Year - Maybe a lost art in 21st century America but not throughout the rest of the "western" world (including Russia/Soviet Union).

Some of the military terms may be a little difficult to make out (and there are lots of them in this ocean of text) so if anyone needs any help working out an abbreviation or military term I can help (with the exception of PC Carrier, as I just haven't figured out which model of Personnel Carrier this refers to). Others may just be finding the time to read through all of this the most difficult part.

When I have all this framed up (later!) I will present that too.

[leaftree]

Thanks for posting this.

[Bill Garvy]

It has taken me as many days to read through the material you have posted. I can not begin to appreciate the amount of time and effort that went into your presentation; my respect and admiration for all you have done.

[CtahhR]

Looking back on this in retrospect, it is absolutely amazing that I actually got round to presenting all of this - you can blame being snowed in for a month.

This is certainly a story and vast research piece that can be returned to time after time. There is such an absolute vast amount of information in there that new things will be seen every time it is looked at.

The next time I get snowed in I'll look into digging even deeper into this story. I'm sure there are plenty more reports and logs of the events of this battle.

I think this is the best example of what effort can bring to research - apart from the cost of the awards all of the research was a nice round number - $0.

It's also reassuring that so many people have read through this. There is always interest in a good, true story of combat and valour.

There are plenty more stories to come out of the collection. Unfortunately many of the most in-depth tales don't fall under the sphere of this forum (such as a group to someone who did marine reconnaissance for the Normandy landings including ferrying on the day, sporting heroes and more) but those fitting stories and items will continue to sneak out as I have time and access.

This is all just the very tip of the tip of the iceberg though. There are millions of stories out there, all are valid.