08-30-2010, 10:52 PM
Hi Doug,
Thanks for the kind words. Grandpa was born in 1899, so he was consicripted and served for a couple of years in the Russian Civil War. (On the Bolshevik side :) ) No clue if he ever saw action, but perhaps his experience saved his life later. Volunteered to fight on June 22, 1941 (they weren't yet drafting men of his age) and fought through the entire war. He kept a low profile and did not join the Party, which is the reason he cited for an unusually low number of awards. Mortar man (not sure what place on the crew) and finished the war in the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Not too many medals, just the Bravery Medal, and campaign medals: Moscow, Budapest (IIRC), Belgrade (IIRC), Vienna.
A few stories remain in the family:
The kid conscripts called him "dad"--and he watched them get killed by the dozen. :(
Wounded by shrapnel several times.. One time a piece of shrapnel hit right on his "Guards" badge. We have that badge in the family archive.
He was a good swimmer, and was one of the lucky few surviving the Kharkiv encirclement by swimming across Dnestr river. Lucky man.
While in Austria, he witnessed someone in his battalion machine gun a family about to sit for dinner. The man had lost his family in the war, and something about this family struck a nerve. Haunting story, but a true one. Grandpa didn't speak to the man since then.
He survived the war and came home in '46. My father (8 at the time) didn't recognize him, telling his mom that "a soldier is there for you." He lived until 1975.
George
Thanks for the kind words. Grandpa was born in 1899, so he was consicripted and served for a couple of years in the Russian Civil War. (On the Bolshevik side :) ) No clue if he ever saw action, but perhaps his experience saved his life later. Volunteered to fight on June 22, 1941 (they weren't yet drafting men of his age) and fought through the entire war. He kept a low profile and did not join the Party, which is the reason he cited for an unusually low number of awards. Mortar man (not sure what place on the crew) and finished the war in the 3rd Ukrainian Front. Not too many medals, just the Bravery Medal, and campaign medals: Moscow, Budapest (IIRC), Belgrade (IIRC), Vienna.
A few stories remain in the family:
The kid conscripts called him "dad"--and he watched them get killed by the dozen. :(
Wounded by shrapnel several times.. One time a piece of shrapnel hit right on his "Guards" badge. We have that badge in the family archive.
He was a good swimmer, and was one of the lucky few surviving the Kharkiv encirclement by swimming across Dnestr river. Lucky man.
While in Austria, he witnessed someone in his battalion machine gun a family about to sit for dinner. The man had lost his family in the war, and something about this family struck a nerve. Haunting story, but a true one. Grandpa didn't speak to the man since then.
He survived the war and came home in '46. My father (8 at the time) didn't recognize him, telling his mom that "a soldier is there for you." He lived until 1975.
George
