My dad worked on a dam in Iraq in the 80s, he received this medal from Saddam Hussein upon completion
Thursday, 13 Mar 2025
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Really cool looks like it either made of or plated with gold
Your Dad was a…Weapon of Dam Construction…
Say what you will about Saddam. He sure made dam good medals!
I mean, who else but Saddam Hussein would hand out medals for building dams? It‘s all in the name.
Edit: I don’t know if acceptance speeches for awards are still common, but as this is my first one in exactly two years of being on Reddit, I want to thank the kind person who handed it out.
Do you want to know what’s written on it? Or you already know?
Damn cool dam medal. Does anyone else have any dam questions?
It’s one of those memories you love to keep for life, because of the story behind it. It must also have a high monetary value.
Dam son! May I ask where your dad is from. Iraq had a lot of indirect but substantive Western support before the Kuwait invasion. The U.S. and French sent a lot of weapons and funds. A lot of European contractors worked there in the 1970s and 80s. Yugoslavia sent a lot for tunnels and underground facilities. Notoriously infamous Norwegian musician Varg Vilkres’ father worked there as an engineer.
So he worked on the damn Saddam dam?
Super interesting! Do you know which dam in Iraq?
If it was the Mosul Dam, there’s a lot of cool history and ongoing safety concerns (not to call out your dad). Good read on the Wiki: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul_Dam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosul_Dam)
This medai is so beautiful, i bet your dad love it so mcuh, giving a medal to people whom worked on a dam project is really nice of Saddam Hussein TBH.
well dam. thats a shiny dam medal
r/DamThatsInteresting
Was it the Sad Dam?
This is a solid gold medal commemorating the 17th July revolution.
What is the total weight? (In grams)
Please put it in a capsule or coin flip because from a brief google search I think this could be worth a lot over melt value (I found a 15.6 gram example listed online for $2,056)
How big is it?
Dam(n)
What a dam flex
Is that the damn now at risk of collapse?
This is super cool! I’m assuming this is from the Mosul dam? Did he work for Hochtief Aktiengesellschaft directly, was he a local contractor they brought on? What are his thoughts on the dam’s current maintenance and imminent collapse?
I showed this to my Iraqi boss and she got a little emotional – said she misses her home. Thanks OP, this was a cool conversation piece with her.
Cool, I got a medal for fighting the twat
My grandpa was working on construction of Haditha Dam, but didn’t receive medal…
I think this is posted on the wrong thread. Shouldn’t it be on damthatsinteresting?
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I had a coworker who was on a project for Sadam Hussein also in the 80s. He was with an engineering firm that built a bombproof concrete shelter for a swimming pool. Basically, Sadam wanted to feel safe from assassination while swimming.
Was that the one where they parked all the American supplied plant (Euclid?) and machinery on the floor of the dam before they flooded it?
(Something to do with putting it it out of use on the 2nd hand market to maintain sales in the region…)
Just a little light treason
That’s cool. It’s become a great piece of history!
I’ve been to the Dam many times . Cool that your dad help build it .
I may have committed some light treason.
Lucky. I invaded his country and all I got was a TBI.
Omg this is so dope!
o___,
Damn…
Wow. I got a similar gold coin as souvenir from a castle in Japan (Hiroshima) except it’s not real gold and the plating is coming off now lol
Ironically we probably blew it up a few years later.
Damn