From start to finish.

[MedalMan90]

I figured I would get the ball rolling here since there are no posts.

Master Sargent Ivan S. Zozulya was Born in 1919 in Ukraine. Ivan has been in the Red Army since September 1938 and in the 642nd (Order of Lennin, Order of the Red Banner) Artilelry Regiment, 24th (Order of the Red Banner) Artillery Brigade as a medic.

This man was a veteran from the opening days of the Patriotic war. Ivan was stationed on the SouthWestern Front and saw the fall of Kiev. Then in January of 1942, he was moved to the Bryansk Front for a year. After that Master Sargent Zozulya wast stationed in the Central Front. His unit did participate in the Battle for Kursk fighting in both 13th and 70th Armies.  Fighting in the "White" Russian Front for the duration of 43 and transferred to the 1st White Russian Front for the Duration of the war.

"During the operation to breach the enemy’s defenses on the western bank of the Oder River in the Kienitz–Letschin sector northwest of the city of Küstrin, comrade Zozulya displayed great military skill, bravery, initiative, and audacity in the zone of advance of the 82nd Rifle Regiment (33rd Rifle Division, 12th Rifle Corps, 3rd Shock Army).
 
During the combat operations conducted between April 14 and 20, 1945, comrade Zozulya carried 8 severely wounded soldiers and their weapons off of the battlefield and administered first aid to them on the spot. He deserves the Order of the Red Star."

Ivan stormed the City of Berlin right along side the 33rd Rifle Division.

[Jack's son]

WOW....our first entry, thank you. You have a great narrative to go along with the medal, can we see more views?

[M1Ashooter]

Thank you for the post.

[MedalMan90]

Thanks fellas! I really enjoy Soviet Awards. Some of the citations that I have seen are pretty crazy.

I would love to JS, but I am unsure how to upload more photos from my phone.

[RoyA]

A beautiful award and fantastic history!

How do you go about researching a Soviet soldier?
Is there a National Archives that will help a researcher?

Roy

[MedalMan90]

Thanks Roy! Yes there is. However, if you don't have a name to begin with research isnt possible.

If you hire a researcher, you can give them the serial number of the award and they will retrieve the records for you. I personally like Auke, he is very knowlagable about soviet awards and documents and military in general. If you wish, I will PM you his website and email.

[M1Ashooter]

This is really a wonderful time we live in sorta.  I never would have thought while I was on SAC missile alert that the evil Soviet Union would fall apart and millions of people would be free.  I studied Russian History in college and as a professional warrior, read as much as I could about the war on the Eastern Front.  Again thank you for sharing this.

[MedalMan90]

Thanks M1. I also enjoy reading about the eastern front. It's crazy how un prepared for war the USSR was. Not to mention the staggering losses from battle and desertion. Yet amazingly they turned the tide of war.

[Rakkasan187]

Impressive write up to accompany the award..

Great first post in the section

Smitty