During World War II, the Soviet leadership established the “Order of Glory”, to honor soldiers for acts of personal bravery.
Often referred to as the “Soldier’s Order,” it was awarded strictly for individual merit.
According to its statute, the order was to be conferred progressively, beginning with the 3rd Class and culminating in the 1st Class. Those who received all three classes became Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory and were granted the same rights as recipients of the title “Hero of the Soviet Union.”
Yet during the war, for unclear reasons, there were curious cases in which the same soldier was awarded the Order of Glory 3rd Class multiple times, despite qualifying for higher classes. Such was the fate of Guard Sergeant Tair Burkutbaevich Tastandiev.
Tair Burkutbaevich Tastandiev (1924–1974), WWII veteran, Full Cavalier of the Order of Glory. Photo from the 1960s
Tastandiev was born on March 20, 1924, in the village of Kyzyl-Aryk, Zhambyl region, Kazakhstan. In August 1942, he was drafted into the Red Army and served as a heavy machine gunner in the 72nd Guards Rifle Regiment.
On November 26, 1944, during a battle for a strategic position south of the Latvian village of Rudbārži, Tastandiev destroyed an enemy machine gun nest with grenades. He was the first to storm into the village, leading his fellow soldiers. Later, on January 29, 1945, during combat six kilometers northwest of Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), Tastandiev’s unit captured two enemy machine guns, eliminating their crews and enabling the company’s advance.
For his bravery in Latvia, he was awarded the Order of Glory 3rd Class on February 8, 1945. He would then be again awarded the Order of Glory 3rd Class on March 12, 1945, for his actions in Königsberg.
On April 6, 1945, during a breakthrough of enemy defenses near the village of Metgethen, Tastandiev and his crew breached enemy barbed wire, paving the way for an infantry assault. On April 8, in the same area, he was concussed in combat but continued to fight with his gun crew. For this, he received the Order of Glory 3rd Class a third time, on April 11, 1945.
After the war, Tastandiev was demobilized and returned to his native village of Kyzyl-Aryk, where he worked on a collective farm.
Only a decade later, on August 19, 1955, a decree by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR corrected the awarding irregularity. Recognizing the administrative oversight, Soviet authorities conferred upon Tastandiev the 2nd and 1st Classes of the Order of Glory, thereby officially designating him a Full Cavalier.
