06-08-2003, 04:54 AM
I'm sure I'm not alone, but I've seen so many different variations of ribbon bars over the years, but after visiting Russia several times, I've come to the conclusion that, as often as not, Soviet officers (and veterans) constructed their own ribbon bars, utilizing whatever techniques were available. Just this last month my father-in-law, a former colonel of engineers of the Soviet Army, and retired instructor at Kuybishev Military Engineering Academy, showed me one he had just completed for wear on Victory Day. He used, of all things, a piece of thin, white styrofoam from a package of meat, covered it with black silk cloth as a base, and padded, cloth-covered mounting bars from the same materials, all hand-sewn together, and then stiched to his tunic. The final effect was quite professional and striking, despite what he had to work with, and the crudity of the handwork was only evident from the back side.
By the way, I noticed that he was missing several jubilee medals that logically should've been his. In 1996 (!!), because of some defense work he performed while a boy at a Suvorov Military School during the war years, he had been awarded the Medal for Assiduous Labor during the Great Patriotic War, which made him a Veteran of the Labor Front, yet he was never awarded medals for the 30th and 40th Anniversary Medals, even though he did receive the Zhukov and 50th Anniversary Medals recently. When I asked him why he was not awarded the two Anniversary Medals (For a Veteran of the Labor Front), he replied that many people, such as he, never received medals for which they were entitled, that quite often, sometimes among serving officers, award of this medal or that was overlooked, that the issuing authority simply forgot or neglected to issue the necessary order awarding the medal to a specific individual. This may explain why, occasionally, a ribbon bar will be found omitting some logical jubillee medal here and there, despite hjaving the one before and after the year in question.
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this point?
By the way, I noticed that he was missing several jubilee medals that logically should've been his. In 1996 (!!), because of some defense work he performed while a boy at a Suvorov Military School during the war years, he had been awarded the Medal for Assiduous Labor during the Great Patriotic War, which made him a Veteran of the Labor Front, yet he was never awarded medals for the 30th and 40th Anniversary Medals, even though he did receive the Zhukov and 50th Anniversary Medals recently. When I asked him why he was not awarded the two Anniversary Medals (For a Veteran of the Labor Front), he replied that many people, such as he, never received medals for which they were entitled, that quite often, sometimes among serving officers, award of this medal or that was overlooked, that the issuing authority simply forgot or neglected to issue the necessary order awarding the medal to a specific individual. This may explain why, occasionally, a ribbon bar will be found omitting some logical jubillee medal here and there, despite hjaving the one before and after the year in question.
Does anyone else have any thoughts on this point?
