-AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN-
DAVE SCHWIND
BLUE SEAS, RED STARS
Seventy years ago, an event took place that never made the headlines and very few noticed: the communist Soviet government bestowed 217 military medals on members of the United States Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine for service with the Atlantic Lend-Lease convoys. With the Second World War over, many of the recipients quietly put the medals away rarely (or never) speaking of them or the heroism they had demonstrated during some of the most trying times of the war. For many, these memories went with them to the grave, leaving the family to wonder just what they had done to earn the "odd little medal." It was my privilege to research these veterans and write a suitable memorial to their sacrifices and heroism. My sincere hope is that through my book, the memory of these brave men will live on forever.
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It is also my honor that you will have given my father a place in your book making him a part of written history for serving his country in a most honorable and courageous way.
-family member of a Soviet medal recipient
The information you had about my father made me see him in a different perspective other than what I knew from personal experience. I wish I had the opportunity to have known him for the man he once was.
-family of a Soviet medal recipient
