Kamyzyak, Astrakhan Region_x000D_ 10.07.1916 - 01.01.1974_x000D_ Rank: Lieutenant State Securety._x000D_ Branch of Service: NKVD and NKGB troops (except for Border Guard)._x000D_ Unit: 99th Rifle Division (1st formation)._x000D_ Here is a yellowed, well-rumpled, black-and-white photo of a young Red Army soldier looking at me. This is my grandfather, Vladimir Plotnikov. Young, fit, in a pressed uniform, boots polished to a shine, he stands at the wooden fence. This photo he sent to his parents before the start of the Great Patriotic War in March 1941. Could he imagine what awaited him, his family and his country? How much grief and difficulties has he experienced in his life?! The next photo is from the front. And my grandfather is already an infantry Lieutenant. This is indicated by the buttonholes of the tunic, which distinguished officers by military branches and rank._x000D_ Vladimir Plotnikov was born on July 10, 1916 in Kamyzyak. Finished 7 classes. He worked for the Chapaev Fish Factory since 1933. He was drafted into the army in October 1937, and served in the NKVD. He served in the city of Astrakhan in March 1941._x000D_ Lieutenant V. Plotnikov, was on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, as a member of the 197th Rifle Regiment, 99th Rifle Division from July 1941 as a Deputy Platoon Commander for Political Affairs of the foot intelligence unit. He took an active part in the defense of the Motherland. Intelligence is the eyes and ears of a regiment, division, or battalion. Intelligence gets information about the enemy, reduces the effectiveness of its attacks, and creates favorable conditions for a successful battle with the enemy. My grandfather was sent to Stalingrad in December 1941,. During the defense of the city of Stalingrad, he was seriously wounded in the left leg by a mine, followed by amputation of the lower leg. He was a disabled veteran of the Great Patriotic War. He was seriously wounded and discharged from the front. My grandfather returned home and continued to work at the military enlistment office in Kamyzyak. Despite the incessant pain from a serious injury and a prosthetic leg, my grandfather after work helped other families around the house: sawed wood, carried water from the river, mowed hay, fished._x000D_ He created a family in 1944, with home front worker Antonina Shashina, had 2 sons and a daughter, 3 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren. And after the war, the front-line soldier continued to perform labor feat, restoring the destroyed economy, creating conditions for a happy peaceful life for their descendants._x000D_ My grandfather died in 1974.