My dad, Korneiko Leonid Matveyevich, was born on August 10, 1918 in Ukraine. Because of his difficult family situation, he graduated only from 3rd grade. In 1939, he was drafted into the army. He got into the border troops of the 42nd Infantry Division, which was created at the beginning of the Civil War and participated in the battles for Perekop. Reconstituted in 1939, the division took part in the Finnish campaign in the fighting west of Petrozavodsk. Rank: Petty Officer. Before the Great Patriotic War, the division was stationed on the western border, in Brest. At that time, the border was very restless. There were often conflicts with the Banderais, who had violated the border. Dad always warmly remembered his fourlegged friend, Hindu. The Shepherd helped guard the border. Among other frontline formations, the division took the first strike of the fascist troops. Dad said: "It was Saturday. Bath day. We watched the film until late. Suddenly there was a rumble. We thought it was a thunderstorm, and when we ran out, we saw that the monument, standing on the square in front of the barracks, was broken by a shell. From April 1942 to March 1943, the division was defending the Ressa River. For taking the city of Smolensk, the division was given the honorary name Smolenskaya. On May 4, Parkhim was captured, where division units met with allied forces. For the soldiers of the 42nd Smolensk Rifle Division the Great Patriotic War ended that day. "My father's “Katyusha” took part in the Victory Parade on Red Square, but my father was hospitalized in Czechoslovakia. After the hospital he was sent to the eastern border, participated in the battles in Manchuria, liberated Sakhalin Island.