Rank: Red Army Soldier. Branch: Ground Forces Division: 9th Mixed Aviation Division He was born in the village of Smolenskaya on October 1, 1923 into a peasant family. Father died when Ivan was 3 years old. In 1938, Ivan's mother married a second time and moved to the village of Novotitorovskaya, a sister was born, and the next year. Having received a passport, he went to work in Krasnodar. He worked at the Krasnodar Cannery, then on the river. On March 9, 1942, Ivan was drafted into the ranks of the Red Army and sent to Ordzhonikidze Airborne School. _x000D_ In August, German troops captured Krasnodar and went to Stavropol. From the cadets of the School, a Division of the 9th army of the 11th corps of the 10th Rifle Brigade was formed, and they were sent to the front line, near Malgobek. The Wehrmacht troops were rushing to Grozny, where there were oil rigs. They, by all means, tried to force the Terek. The newly arrived Red Army men took up defenses on the right bank of the river, near the village of Stoderevskaya. But the enemy forced them to retreat to Mount Malgobek. After our troops nevertheless defeated the prepared German crossing, the Nazis climbed up the river, where there were two strategic bridges: a railway and a highway. Ivan was transferred in the area of the Karzhin farm. They took up defensive positions, rolled out their guns. About a dozen German tanks managed to cross the river, and then aviation was ordered to destroy the bridge over the Terek. Artillery hit tanks, aircrafts, and bombed bridges. _x000D_ The combat had lasted until the evening. The tanks that crossed the bridge were destroyed. In that combat, Ivan was in charge of communications. He stretched a telephone cable a coil and transmitted coordinates and targets for striking the enemy. A shell from a German six-barreled mortar tore off the sole of his boot, so it seemed that his leg was torn off, his helmet was knocked off his head, his entire overcoat was beaten with shrapnel. So on November 6, Private Ivan received his first wound. _x000D_ On January 20, fighter Ivan was discharged from the hospital and he went on foot to his unit. He passed Stavropol, half of the Krasnodar Territory, until finally he had reached his unit. In February, Soviet troops went on the offensive. On 02/12/1943 Krasnodar was liberated. After the liberation of the city, the Soviet people learned about the atrocities committed by the Nazis in the city. _x000D_ Until now, some people did not know that the Germans used the so-called gas chambers vehicles in Krasnodar. The purpose of this vehicle was initially kept in the strictest confidence. The unit in which Ivan Vasilyevich served was moved to Ust-Labinskaya and Tikhoretsk. Residents greeted their liberators with bread and salt. _x000D_ On February 20, the offensive was carried out in the Krasnoarmeisk Region. The army went ashore and took up defensive positions. The soldiers were getting wet from head to toe in February, but wood fires were not allowed due to security. What to do? They took off their shoes and somehow wrung out their clothes, put them on again. And only one thought was coming up: " Let it be the combat, we get warm. That's when it got hot, so hot." At last, communications flares soared into the air. And the Red Army men went on the attack, although they could not bend their frozen hands. Artillery and aviation cleared the way for the infantry. In this fierce combat, Ivan was again wounded, and while he lay wet, waiting for medical assistance, he also had second-degree frostbite on his legs and arms. He went back to the hospital. In April he was discharged and sent to the village of Novotitarovskaya. Then Ivan’s military unit approached the village of Krymskaya and took part in battles on the Blue Line. Then he took part in a major air battle in the sky of the Kuban, over the “Hill of Heroes”. Ivan was in a unit that climbed Height 121.4. The hill was taken with great losses. In the long fierce battles for the Crimean Region, 24 thousand Soviet soldiers died. On June 15, 1943, Ivan was wounded, this time very seriously. Private Ivan had 14 wounds on his body. At first the surgeon made a disappointing prognosis about the possible amputation of hands, and later found some hope. Ivan was treated and transported by plane to Krasnodar. _x000D_ Only on February 10, 1944, Ivan was discharged. A tall young man weighted 52 kg. He was no longer fit for combat service. Ivan Vasilievich returned home. In March 1945 he moved to the village of Georgie-Afipskaya, where relatives lived. He got married in 1949. With Evdokia Grigorievna they lived together for 67 years. All my life, despite his disability, he worked a lot and honestly. They brought up three children. _x000D_ , He lived with his wife in a house that they built in 1953 on the banks of the Afips River. An atmosphere of comfort and hospitality reigned in the house. On June 1, 2017, Ivan Vasilyevich passed away.