In the thread on case #1 of my Soviet awards, Jeff asked if I have any interesting stories on the medals. I thought I would share the following.
When posted to Turkey in the late 1970s, my wife and I met a young Soviet couple at a diplomatic reception. Boris and Natasha (not their real names) were mambers of the "Golden Youth" of the Soviet Union. His father was a senior editor of the humor magazine, "Krokodil" and hef father was a senior officer in the KGB. They dressed in Calvin Klein clothes and he drove a Renault sports car, a model I hadn't seen before his. They had a young, spoiled son who soon became fond of me since I regularly supplied him with cars and trucks from the Matchbook series (which I would buy the PX on the US Air Force Station at Balgat).
I started a relationship with Boris with the purpose of vetting him as a potential recritment target. He was, naturally, doing the same to me. In addition meeting for lunch and a few beers in a couple of cafes, we visited each other other in our respective apartments. Our discussions were oftn heated and included such topics as the SALT II talks.
During the first visit to my apartment, Boris spent a considerable amount of time searching my library. He came across John Baron's book on the KGB and took it from the shelf. After flipping through it for a few minutes, he turned to his wife and said something to her in Russian. He then put the book back and became sullen. He turned to me and said, :"Ken, I think you like Hitler and Germany." I told him that I had majored in Modern Europesn History at the Univesity and that WWII was a hobby of mine and therefore I had many books on the subject. I then showed him part of my militaria collection which he found fascinating.
When posted to Turkey in the late 1970s, my wife and I met a young Soviet couple at a diplomatic reception. Boris and Natasha (not their real names) were mambers of the "Golden Youth" of the Soviet Union. His father was a senior editor of the humor magazine, "Krokodil" and hef father was a senior officer in the KGB. They dressed in Calvin Klein clothes and he drove a Renault sports car, a model I hadn't seen before his. They had a young, spoiled son who soon became fond of me since I regularly supplied him with cars and trucks from the Matchbook series (which I would buy the PX on the US Air Force Station at Balgat).
I started a relationship with Boris with the purpose of vetting him as a potential recritment target. He was, naturally, doing the same to me. In addition meeting for lunch and a few beers in a couple of cafes, we visited each other other in our respective apartments. Our discussions were oftn heated and included such topics as the SALT II talks.
During the first visit to my apartment, Boris spent a considerable amount of time searching my library. He came across John Baron's book on the KGB and took it from the shelf. After flipping through it for a few minutes, he turned to his wife and said something to her in Russian. He then put the book back and became sullen. He turned to me and said, :"Ken, I think you like Hitler and Germany." I told him that I had majored in Modern Europesn History at the Univesity and that WWII was a hobby of mine and therefore I had many books on the subject. I then showed him part of my militaria collection which he found fascinating.