Rank: Major Type of military forces: The artillery. I will not to forget what is remembered by the grandfather. The grandfather wrote for the first grandson – my older brother Andrey the invaluable volume. According to the family chronicle which I read, history of the country was made by families, certain people and events, encouraging people on acts which are difficult to imagine today. Survive to protect. Luka Gavrilovich Kolesnik was born on December 12, 1918 in the village of Ryasnoye of Krasnopolsky district of the Sumy region in the family of a peasant. The large family lived in poverty therefore the younger son since early childhood looked after the geese, helped with the garden. In hungry 1934 the father died. Luka with mother ate only soup (water with beet leaves which the boy earned on weeding of sugar beet, moreover 50 g. of bread per day). He looked baby birds of rooks in the nests and cooked soup to support life in mother who in the spring of 1934 nevertheless died. Luka was taken in the house by one of elder sisters, he went to school, nursed nephews, took care of the garden. In 1937 he was admitted to Komsomol, he was engaged in elimination of illiteracy among the senior generation. In 1938 he finished 10 classes and came to the Kharkiv military college of communication. On December 25, 1939 Luka Gavrilovich ahead of schedule was entitled the lieutenant and left to the Finnish front. He participated in defensive actions near the village Markayarvi as a part of the 256th detached battalion of communication of the Karelian front. He was involved in developing attack and defense of the Kandalaksha direction. This page of history was remembered to the grandfather by snipers - "cuckoos", excellent ski training of the Finnish troops and how fast the professionalism of the Soviet Army was growing. Upon termination of battles the headquarters of the front was located in the destroyed city of Kuolayarvi, and the grandfather on an equal basis with all built barracks, stables, houses for officers, stone strengthenings. He even "won" the room for radio class where he provided training for the soldiers. At the end of 1940 in Murmansk he got acquainted with his future wife. They got married on June 19, 1941, and on June 22 he sent Zhenya to evacuation to her parents to Barnaul. That air always be clean, the wire – safe and sound. According to the memoirs of the grandfather the first days of June 41st fascists made only reconnaissance flights, occasionally bombed. - Then defense break attempts began, the German planes didn’t meet the opponent in the sky and got impudent, - Luka Gavrilovich remembered. - We then laughed that fascists will soon walk on our heads. As a result of mutual shellings there were big losses in manpower from Germans, but not on our side – we managed to become stronger and adjust blindages. On July 8 Germans broke through defense, and we got encircled, out of which we quickly got out. Here I saw how important is communication and coherence of actions between divisions. In June, 1942 Luka Gavrilovich was appointed the second-in-command of a company of communication of the 715th shooting regiment of 21 rifle divisions. He checked shifts of radio operators and operators, took measures for elimination of damages on communication lines, coded and decoded radiograms, lived in a blindage together with soldiers. From March, 1943 to July, 1944 he carried out the duties of the chief of RSB radio station in a separate company VNOS (air surveillance, notification, communication). Here observation of airspace, transfer on RC of messages about the purpose by phone radio became the main task, and from there the data went to antiaircraft parts, troops at the front and in the back. - Active battles began in June-July, 1944 when the Leningrad and Karelian fronts took the offensive, - Luka Kolesnik wrote home. - We accomplished the task of protection of the railroad Murmansk-Moscow with credit, a lot of cargo on a lend-lease from America and England passed on this road. On June 26, 1944 he was appointed to the position of the chief of communication by 1216 case artillery regiments of 19 army. Our regiment as a part of 21 rifle divisions began to participate in offensive operations. Here I saw artillery preparation of "Katyushas" for the first time, because of which fascists paniced. At the Kayralsky boundary during the battle under the opponent's fire I repeatedly reestablished the damaged communication for which I was awarded the order "the Red Star". The corps stood in Karelia till December, 1944, then the staff was shipped in echelons and directed towards Ukraine, from there to the front through Romania to Hungary. On March 24, 1945 L.G. Kolesnik received Stalin's official message of gratitude for participation in defeat of tank group to the southwest of Budapest as a part of 11 tank divisions and taking the cities of Sekeshfeshervar, Mor, Zirez, Veszprem, Ening, etc. Since April 5 the fighting travel of the grandfather on the lands of Austria began. He learned news about the victory in a fighting campaign. On May 11 near the village Gave he participated in disarmament of the German column and met Americans. After the Victory he remained in Europe as a part of occupational army near the city of Shandorfalva as a part of the 9th Guards army of the Central group of troops. Luka Gavrilovich returned home in September, 1945, to the area of Totsky camps, the first holiday he received in April, 1946. In January, 1951 he decreased for service to Germany as the chief of communication of a separate artillery division in Keninsbryuke near Dresden. In 1957 he returned to the Soviet Union and was given assignment at first to Stalinabad, then Termez. On May 15, 1959 in a rank of Major he was transferred to the reserve due to health reasons, having served in the army in total 20 years. Ten more years he worked as the accountant in Altaypromstroy trust, the economist of planning department of trust. Since July, 1969 he is retired. My grandfather considers himself the lucky one, because during both wars Luka Gavrilovich wasn't wounded, contused, he was awarded with two battle awards. He still remembers the colleagues by their names, kept in contact with many for a long time long time. Every year there remain less and less of them, heroes of the Great Patriotic War. But everything that my grandfather remembered, will never be erased from my memory, will remain also in the memory of my son. And this is what it is worth living for. Ekaterina Viktorovna Chetoshnikova, granddaughter.