Soviet of the USSR has awarded decorations to the following servicemen of the Navy, Naval Reserve, Coast Guard and Coast Guard Reserve of the United States of America:~

What followed in this declaration was a list of 189 recipients of the following awards: Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class and 2nd Class, Order of the , 3rd Class, the Medal For Valor, Medal For Military Merit, Ushakov Medal and Nakhimov Medal.

The awards were roughly divided along the lines of rank: Officers received the Order of the Patriotic War 1 st Class, officers and Chief Petty Officers received the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class. Orders of the Red Star and Glory 3rd Class were a bit more encompassing, being awarded to all ranks. The Medal for Valor, Medal for Military Merit, Ushakov Medal and Nakhimov Medal were awarded only to enlisted personnel.

After conducting numerous interviews with recipients of these awards, I found it very difficult to pin down an exact pattern or rationale for the awarding of these decorations. However, some were easier to understand than others. Figure 13: Brigadier General Woolfley of the 76th Infantry Two officers, Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) Division wearing a Soviet Guards badge (76th Infantry Sheldon Kinney and Lieutenant (also later Rear Admiral) Division Association). Robert Baughan received Orders of the Patriotic War, 1 st and 2nd Class (Figures 14 and 15), respectively. Both For outstanding military activities which facilitated officers served on ships on the treacherous trans-Atlantic the sailing of transports with war supplies to convoy runs and were decorated - Kinney with the Silver ports of the during the war against Star and Baughan with the Bronze Star. the common enemy of the USSR and the USA - Hitlerite Germany - and for the valor and gallantry Rear Admiral Baughan served on the USS Lexington (CV- they displayed, the Presidium of the Supreme 2) and later on the USS Champlin (DD-601) during the

Figure 14: Obverse (left) and reverse of the Order of Patriotic War, 2nd Class awarded to Lieutenant Baughan (Rear Adlniral Robert Baughan).

Vol. 5 8, No. 5 11 that was attacked en route with considerable losses. He was awarded a Commendation Ribbon for this trip by the United States Navy and the Order of the Red Star by the Soviets.

Figure 15: Rear Admiral and Mrs. Baughan in 2006. He is holding his Order of Patriotic War, 2nd Class. trans-Atlantic convoys. As a young lieutenant, he was Figure 16: Lieutenant Alex Brokas. awarded the Bronze Star for the sinking of the U-130 on March 12, 1943. Because of this action, he was included On the enlisted side, Gunner’s Mate 1 st Class Garnett in the awards presented by the Soviet government. DeBaun shot down a German aircraft while his ship was unloading cargo in Murmansk on Christmas Day 1942, Other recipients, such as Lieutenant Commander which earned him the Order of the Red Star. Boatswain’s Milton Sherbring and Lieutenant Alex Brokas (Figure Mate 2nd Class Andrew Matheson had a slightly more 16) who both flew torpedo bombers (TBM-1D) with unusual action. His ship was bombed by German aircraft VC-42, received their Soviet awards for their part in in port of Archangel and while ashore,\ he assisted in sinking U-1229 on August 20, 1944. As in the case with aiding Soviet citizens who had been wounded during the Lieutenant Brokas, his Order of Glory 3rd Class was bombing. For this he earned the Medal For Valor but no given because of a corresponding United States Navy corresponding American award. award - a Distinguished Flying Cross. The presentation of these awards seemed to differ based Although these brave men never approached Soviet on the rank of the recipient. For officers the awards were waters, a number of the sailors and officers on the normally sent without fanfare in the mail, whereas awards treacherous "Murmansk Run" as well as on convoy to sailors were often made by local military officials in runs into the Arabian Gulf with supplies bound for the public ceremonies. Rear Admiral Baughan told me about USSR via Iran received awards for valor displayed on how he received his award: these runs. It showed up in the mail one day. There was no presentation, but included in the package was the Lieutenant David Pickler served as the Officer in Charge award, a box and several documents. These documents of the 12-man armed guard onboard the SS George included the announcement from the Soviet government Clymer and received his Red Star for actions that took that listed all of the recipients of these awards, the place while transporting a load of lumber and aircraft to booklet with the award, and a book of coupons Iran. Lieutenant Thomas Delate also was in charge of an armed guard detachment on a convoy into Murmansk

12 JOMSA for a stipend in . Also included with the NAVY DEPARTMENT documents was a letter fro1Tl the Bureau of Naval BUREAU OF NAVAL PERSONNEL Personnel that told me that I could not accept anything WASH INGTON 25, D, C, from the Soviet government that came with the award [e.g. the stipend] (Figure 17).1

The Chief of ~aval ~er~o~nsl, Lieutenant C~er Robert Louis ~au61~u~ ,Yr,~ U.S. ga~, i00~20 He also recalled that there was a letter from the Bureau of Personnel authorizing him to include a photo as the Soviets instructed and then return the order book to the Soviet Embassy for official recording and stamping. He complied with this request and included the letter found in Figure 18.

Based on the order books that I have had the opportunity of seeing, I have found that the recipients infrequently sent their documents back for stamping (Figures 19 and 20). The majority simply have the "Valid without Photo" stamp as common in the order books belonging to Soviet order recipients. Those that were returned with photos bear the stamp of the Soviet Embassy in the United States.

Another interesting note about the order books for Americans is that no award numbers are listed, but simply the Declaration of the Supreme Soviet date (Figure 21). This is in considerable contrast to the normal Soviet practice of listing all awards by their serial numbers in Figure 17: Letter from the Bureau of Naval Personnel m the order book. Lieutenant Baughan (Rear Admiral Baughan). On the enlisted men, nearly all of those I interviewed had a formal presentation for their award, even if they had already been discharged from the service. Boatswain’s Mate Matheson described his presentation ceremony as To : Via a "big presentation" at the city hall in the small town of Subject: Halliday, North Dakota in mid-1946. Gunner’s Mate Debaun remembered his award ceremony vividly as a group presentation in 1946 in the city hall in Indianapolis, Indiana.

2. .~.cl:~m~re (A) is forwarded nere~Ith i~ accor- Naval awards contrasted their Army counterparts by danc~ ~it.h r~r~nc~ (a). ifi ~ act to h~ ~h r~ci~,le:~ of being awarded with all of the normal official documents that accompanied a similar award to a Soviet officer or soldier. The decoration "package" included the award, neatly packaged in a red cardboard box with dark red padded lining in both the lid and base (Figure 22), the official order or medal book (Figure 23), and matching coupon book which made the recipient eligible for a monthly stipend from the Soviet government (Figures !. FO~;erdedo 24 and 25). The latter two documents were mailed in a separate red cardboard box, the same as the box for the T. b. decoration, but without the padded interior. All of the awards I have seen have included the recipient’s name on a typewritten tag taped to the top of the box containing Figure 18: Letter from Lieutenant Baughan to the Soviet the decoration (Figure 26). Embassy (Rear Admiral Baughan).

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