Vershinin Andrey Nikolaevich_x000D_ _x000D_ Rank: Lieutenant military Branch: aviation Division: 103rd aviation division Andrey Vershinin was born in 1911 in the village of Verkhny KUGENER of the Verkhne-KUGENER village Council of the Sernur district of the Mari ASSR. After finishing school, he entered the pedagogical College in Sernur. In 1930, after graduating from the pedagogical College, he worked as a teacher in rural schools for several years, and then was sent to a flight school. In 1940, in the battles with the white Finns, my great-grandfather received the first award - the order of the red banner. From the first days of the great Patriotic war, he participated in battles against the Nazis. In one of the first days, he shot down two Junkers-88 aircraft and did not allow the bridge to be bombed. In those days, news of a hero who had performed a military feat came from the pages of Central Newspapers. On July 10, 1941, Komsomolskaya Pravda published an essay by the military journalist L. Vysokoostrovsky about Lieutenant A. N. Vershinin, who shot down a fascist bomber in an air battle. The essay ended with the words " Lieutenant Vershinin, combining the remarkable qualities of a brave pilot and a fine Bolshevik, draws his subordinates to military exploits by personal example. "the newspaper also indicated his place of birth, so this material was reprinted in the Newspapers" Mari commune "and" Mari Pravda", and in the Sernur newspaper" Kommunar "it was published together with a letter from members of the collective farm" KUGENER " - fellow countrymen of the pilot. "Dear Andrey Nikolaevich," wrote the villagers, " we read with great pride about your heroic deeds... we are proud that our pupil, who comes from a poor Mari family, performs heroic deeds for his Homeland in the fight against the cursed enemy. Together with us, with a sense of boundless joy, all our free Mari people are proud of your exploits." Andrey Nikolaevich flew I-16 and Yak-1 fighters, both in a group and alone. He flew ground attack, reconnaissance, patrol, intercept enemy aircraft. He was Deputy squadron commander of the 158th fighter regiment, later converted to the 103rd guards regiment. The pilot did not return from the mission on July 20, 1941. On this day, Lieutenant A. N. Vershinin took off in the morning from the airfield with five fighters to cover our troops in the Ivanovskoe – Sabsk area. When the task was completed, they were attacked by three enemy planes. After the attack, they went into the clouds. On the way back, the Soviet aces met an enemy bomber. As a result of the attack, it caught fire. All our pilots returned to their airfield. Two hours later, the fighter was alerted. There was an air battle in the area of Krasnogvardeysk. The task was completed. Two of the five fighter pilots did not return to the airfield – Yakovlev and Vershinin. Yakovlev was hit by an anti-aircraft battery, and Vershinin and his plane were missing. The order of the regiment commander noted: "on July 20, 1941, the Deputy commander of the 1st air squadron, Lieutenant Andrey Vershinin, while repelling an air RAID on the city of Leningrad, on the Krasnogvadeysk – Sivoritsy section, as a result of an air battle with enemy aircraft, crashed near the town of Lyady, Leningrad region. The plane was crashed and the pilot was killed." Andrey Vershinin was killed on the 31st sortie, shot down five Nazi planes. Two days after his death, a Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was issued, and the name of Lieutenant A. N. Vershinin was also listed in the lists of a large group of awarded red army soldiers and commanders. His exploits were awarded the order of Lenin.