The Order of Glory was instituted at the end of 1943 and was the highest soldiery award. There are significantly fewer full cavaliers of the Order of Glory (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Classes) than Heroes of the Soviet Union. Only four persons were awarded both the Gold Star and the Order of Glory of all three classes.
Andrey Alyoshin (1905–1974) was a participant in the Great Patriotic War, a gun commander, a Guard senior sergeant, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, a Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was born in the village of Novoselki, Kosteshovskaya Volost, the Kozelsk District of the Kaluga Province. He joined the Red Army in 1939 and participated as a gunner in the Polish campaign and the Soviet-Finnish War. During the Great Patriotic War, he defended the approaches to Moscow and participated in the battles for the cities of Seredyna-Buda, Mendzy-Podlyaski, Dandsburg (now Ventsbrook, Poland), Szczecin, and many other battles. For his military achievements, he was awarded three Orders of Glory at various times. In 1945, he was demobilized. He lived in the village of Popelevo in the Kozelsk District of the Kaluga Region and worked as a chief accountant at the Krasny Plodovod state farm.
He was also awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class, and many medals.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Andrey Alyoshin, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, against the backdrop of a battle scene reflecting the hero's kind of activity, a Gold Star medal, and Orders of Glory of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Classes.
Ivan Drachenko (1922–1994) was a fighter pilot, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, a Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was born on November 15, 1922, in the village of Velikaya Sevastyanovka, which is now in the Khristynovsky District of the Cherkasy Region. He joined the Red Army in 1941. In the summer of 1943, he graduated from the Tambov Military Aviation School of Pilots and was sent to the front as an attack pilot.
During the Great Patriotic War, he performed 151 mission sorties, shot down five enemy aircraft in 24 air battles, crushed nine more at airfields, smashed four bridges, and annihilated a lot of enemy equipment and manpower.
After the War, I. Drachenko entered the Military Air Academy, but in 1947, due to health reasons, he was transferred from active duty with the rank of captain. In 1953, he graduated from the law faculty of the Kiev State University, and then completed his postgraduate studies. He worked as a school principal, and later as a deputy director of the Palace of Culture in Kiev.
He was also awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, and other medals.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Ivan Drachenko, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, against the backdrop of a battle scene reflecting the hero's kind of activity, a Gold Star medal, and Orders of Glory of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Classes.
Pavel Dubinda (1914–1992) was a senior sergeant of the 293rd Guards Rifle Regiment, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, a Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was born in the village of Prognoi, which is now Heroiskoye in the Golopristansky District of the Kherson region. After graduating from school, he worked on a fish farm. In 1936, he was drafted into the Navy. He was a participant in the Great Patriotic War from June of 1941. He took part in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. From March of 1944, he served in the 293rd Guards Rifle Regiment. During the battles for villages in Poland and East Prussia, he personally destroyed a large number of enemy soldiers, thereby ensuring the fulfillment of combat missions and was awarded three Orders of Glory at different times. In August of 1945, he was demobilized. After returning to his homeland, he worked as a boatswain on the ships of the Slava Antarctic whaling fleet.
He was also awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd Class, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class, and other medals.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Pavel Dubinda, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, against the backdrop of a battle scene reflecting the hero's kind of activity, a Gold Star medal, and Orders of Glory of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Classes.
Nikolai Kuznetsov (1922–2008) was a senior sergeant, a gun commander, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, a Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was born in the village of Pytruchey, now in the Vytegorsky District of the Vologda Region. From August of 1941, he fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. He destroyed 11 German tanks, successfully hit several firing points, and annihilated a large number of enemy infantry. On June 24 of 1945, he participated in the Victory Parade in the composition of a combined battalion that threw captured banners at Lenin's mausoleum. After the War, he left military service and entered the Leningrad Electromechanical Technical School. After graduation in 1950, he worked on construction sites in the Far North. Subsequently, he moved to the city of Pestovo in the Novgorod Region and worked at the Pestovo Timber Industry Complex.
The postage stamp provides a portrait of Nikolai Kuznetsov, a Hero of the Soviet Union, a Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory, against the backdrop of a battle scene reflecting the hero's kind of activity, a Gold Star medal, and Orders of Glory of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Classes.
In addition to the issue of the postage stamps, JSC Marka produced First Day Covers and special cancels for Moscow, Veliky Novgorod, Vologda, Genichesk and Kaluga.
Design Artist: V. Beltyukov.
Face value: 80 rubles.
Stamp size: 42×30 mm, sheet size: 104×152 mm.
Emission form: a sheet with formatted margins with 8 (2×4) stamps.
Quantity: 20 thousand each stamp (10 thousand sheets). « back