When the war began, my grandfather, Tsilikin Dmitry Pavlovich, was not yet 18 years old. He was drafted to the front in September 1942. Grandfather fought on the Transcaucasian Front in the 242nd mountain rifle division as a liaison officer. He took part in the battles near Novorossiysk on Malaya Zemlya, in one of which he was seriously wounded on April 24, 1943 by fragments from an enemy mine. Miraculously, he was saved, but the splinter near his heart had to be left for life. My grandfather recalled: "And there was absolute hell. The Germans bombed us day and night. Moreover, apart from bombs, they threw plows from planes, leaking iron barrels, which made a frightening sound." After the hospital, grandfather Dmitry was given a month's leave to improve his health, but in wartime conditions it took a month and a half to get from Sochi to his home. But the war did not end for Dima's grandfather. After recovering his health, he fought with saboteurs as part of the 144th separate reconnaissance artillery battalion with a computer. Grandfather celebrated Victory Day in Brest-Litovsk. The end of the war at dawn on May 9 was announced by volleys of flares. Although with a splinter in his chest, grandfather returned home. And his older brother Ivan Pavlovich Tsilikin died at the front. For his feat and courage, my grandfather Dmitry was awarded the Medal for Military Merit.