CITY: Sverdlovsk region, Sysertsky district DATE OF BIRTH: 12/20/1918 DATE OF DEATH: - HISTORY: I want to tell you about my grandfather, Vasily Petrovich Arkhipov. Vasily Petrovich was born in the Sysert district of the Sverdlovsk region. He joined the army in 1938, was drafted into the Navy and served in the Far East. In June 1941 he was demobilized and was waiting for the train, which gathered all the demobilized and was supposed to take them from the Far East. And on June 22, the Great Patriotic War began. On the morning of June 23, all the demobilized were gathered near the train and announced the beginning of the war. They were told that they have every right to go home and wait for the call there. But you can immediately volunteer for the front. "Who agrees, step forward!" Every single one volunteered. With the same echelon, they were immediately taken to the landing division near Moscow. They were taught to jump with a parachute, my grandfather had 14 jumps, taught to navigate the terrain. We were also engaged in the protection of bridges near Moscow. My grandfather said that there were cases when his squad detained the cars of saboteurs filled with explosives sent to blow up one of the bridges. Then Vasily Petrovich became the commander of the machine-gun section, was a machine-gunner. He drove the fascists all the way to Budapest, where he was wounded. He was wounded by shrapnel from a grenade, and he went to the hospital. Vasily Petrovich was a senior sergeant. He returned home in 1945 after serving 7 years. During the years of service he was awarded two medals "For Military Merit", two medals "For Courage", a medal "For the capture of Budapest", has the Order of the Patriotic War. He lived a long life, got married, raised two children. After the war and until the end of his days he lived in Yekaterinburg. Despite the difficult path he traveled, he always remained a highly moral person. He never expressed himself rudely, quit smoking, although at that time the front-line soldiers smoked all over the place, I never saw him drunk. Victory Day will forever remain the main holiday in his life. I remember how we always congratulated him, and he put on his awards. Even in solemn family photographs, which were specially taken in photo salons, he was always with his orders and medals.