Akunov Asangazi Place: Darkan, the Kyrgyz Republic. Date of birth: 08.03.1927. Died on 09.09.2006. The story of a soldier: My grandpa Akunov Asangazi was born on March 8, 1927 in the village called Darkan in Jeti-Oguz district of Issyk-Kul Region in the Kyrgyz Republic. The Great Patriotic War began in 1941, people from towns and villages were taken to the rear. Grandpa Asangazi went to the war as a volunteer in 1944 at his own wish under the age of 18 (he had changed his year of birth from 1927 to 1926) and he hadn’t asked his parents for permission. He was attending an artillery course for 6 months. Then he was sent to the front line under the command of G.K. Zhukov. He went through all Ukraine, Czechoslovakia and a half of Germany. Military history: as explained by my grandpa they had to build a temporary bridge to cross the Oder river. It was what they were doing for several days. They were building a bridge staying on float boats in the dead of night. There was a fight against the Nazi beyond the river. When it was 2 km left to Berlin my grandpa’s headquarters were assaulted by aviation, there was bombing on every side, a shell exploded within a few metres from that place. My grandpa and some other soldiers were left under a pile of clay and soil. My grandpa's right hand stuck out of that pile (according to his fellow soldiers). The survivors helped my grandpa and the other wounded to get out. My grandpa was extremely thirsty and he thought he heard the sound of flowing water nearby and he got a desire to drink, he scooped some water with his palm and had a drink. Right after that he realized that it wasn’t water but blood. And then he lost consciousness. Being critically injured he lost his hearing and got contusion. He wasn’t able to reach the destination and he didn’t see the victory in Berlin. The war ended. He came back home 6 months later. Memories: his family, children and grandchildren. On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union without a declaration of war. The army and the people weren’t ready for that, the officer corps consisted mainly of low experienced commanders because of Stalin’s repression in the late 1930s. The Soviet Union won victory in the Great Patriotic War, but at what cost? At the cost of human sufferings and huge losses that befell the soviet people. This day reminds us of all the people fell in the battle, tortured in nazi slavery, died in the rear from starvation and grievances. We mourn for everyone who fulfilled their holy duty at the cost of their lives, who protected our country in those tough years. Every soviet family has someone who took part in the Great Patriotic War, someone’s grandfather, a father, a brother or close relatives fought as best they could, some of them discovered their courage. Not all of those young soldiers came back. Lots of families lost a father, a husband, their nearest and dearest. Those who stayed worked and provided the Red Army with clothes and food. This soviet tragedy affected our family too.