Rank: Senior Lieutenant. Type of troops: Armored and mechanized troops. Subdivision: 323rd Rifle Bryansk Red Banner Order of Suvorov Division. My grandfather, Khatyushin Vladimir Ivanovich was born in the village of Khochutino, Meshchevsky District, Kaluga Region. February 17, 1924 in a large peasant family. His father was a carpenter and often went to work in big cities. And the mother with all the children remained on the farm. Although it was difficult, everyone went to school and learned to read and write, and in the summer, during the holidays, Volodya worked with the village guys on the collective farm. In 1941, when the Great Patriotic War began, he just finished 9th grade. Many at that time thought that the war would cost "little blood" and would end in a couple of months. But in October 1941, fascist tanks rumbled under their native village. And in February 1942, as soon as my grandfather turned 18, he went to fight almost from the threshold of his home. Young literate guys were attached to the 205th regiment of the 10th army, which held the defense of Moscow. Military science training proceeded right on the spot at an accelerated pace - only a month and a half. The science of dying and winning was mastered not only in theory, but also in practice - the enemy was striving for Moscow. After training, Sergeant Vladimir Khatyushin was assigned to the 330th Infantry Division, which was located in the Bryansk forests. There passed the line of defense of Moscow, there my grandfather, in the position of assistant platoon commander, took his first battle. Vladimir Ivanovich received his first award, the Medal For Courage, for the battles near Bryansk, when a bullet struck the platoon commander and he took over command, having managed to overcome the fear of the advancing armada of tanks and lead the soldiers into the attack. The young platoon commander was hot and the first to rise from the trench when the attack began. There he was wounded, near Bryansk. The old soldier who carried him from the battlefield said: “Don't get excited. A bullet is the easiest to hit. You try to survive and defeat the enemy. " My grandfather remembered this advice for a long time and then always followed it. After the hospital, he ended up in the 29th Guards Tank Shock Brigade of the 323rd Bryansk Red Banner Rifle Division. The brigade was thrown into different places, where it was most difficult, where it was necessary to make a decisive blow - to stop the enemy's advance. That's what she and the shock brigade. In one of these battles, the tank on which Vladimir Ivanovich was riding was hit by an enemy shell. The car immediately caught fire. Almost everyone who sat at the top of the tank burned out on the battlefield with a candle. My grandfather survived but was wounded. With this shock tank brigade, he reached Berlin itself, passing through Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany in battles. The second award - the Medal for Military Merit - was received for the distinction in the battle during the crossing of the Sozh River near Gomel. The first Order of the Red Star - for the battles near the Belarusian cities of Rogachev and Zhlobin. The second Red Star is beyond the Vistula. Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree - for battles on the Seelow Heights. Medals "For the liberation of Warsaw", "For the capture of Berlin" speak for themselves. But among them all the same the most expensive remained the very first - the medal "For Courage" - the highest distinction of soldier's valor. In 4 years he learned how to fight and always remembered the advice of the old soldier: not only to complete a combat mission, but also to save the people who are under your command. In 1946, having demobilized, he returned to his native village. He worked as a foreman of a tractor brigade, a mechanic on a collective farm. He married my grandmother. She pushed him to the idea of ​​getting a higher education. For more than 20 years he worked as the head teacher of industrial training in his native school, engaged in labor education of schoolchildren. Outbuildings, a school garden, a monument to graduates who died in the war - all this is connected with the name of my grandfather, because it began on his initiative. Vladimir Ivanovich passed away on May 19, 2003 at the age of 75. I am proud to bear his name.