Opinion Piece - Myths and Realities of the Great Patriotic War

[Marquo]

"this strategy almost faild becasue of soviet communication problems"

In fact, the most important commodity the Russians received from the west was telephone wire, to help set up mobile communication.

Several years ago I read an article in the Washinton Post which detailed a plan that the Russian Embassy had devised to award medals to American soldiers who had participated in joint military operations with Soviet soldiers during the war. The Russians had developed a sense that the American public had developed a false sense of history over time, perhaps related to years of Cold War anomosity. The Russians, as explained in the Post, felt that many Americans of the current generation beleive that America and Germany were allied together to fight Russia in WW2!

I brought a picture of my father (2n Lt, 65th ID) on a bridge, arm in arm with a Soviet Lt, with their helmets exchanged (see attachment) to the Embassy to get a medal for my Dad. After examination, it was determined that this encounter was right after the war, so no medal. But...:), we were invited a celebration of Zhukov's 100th birthday party, where his 2 daughters signed the picture, which is now of course a treasured family heirloom.

Marquo :-)