Rank: Junior Sergeant. Type of troops: Artillery. Division: 384th Red Banner Infantry Division. Many years have passed since the victorious volleys of the war died away. Time "erases" the names of the heroes. They defended their loved ones, their homeland, our future. Who are they? One of them, I think, is my great-grandfather Ivan Polikarpovich Breslavtsev. His interesting, but very difficult life path made me respect him and be proud of being his relative. No wonder that I chose the words of V.I. Chuikov as an epigraph to my composition. I think those people who went through the war are heroes. If it were not for them, it would be no world in which we live now. Therefore, we must always remember about them. Ivan Polikarpovich Breslavtsev was born on December 3, 1923 in the village of Novomarkovka, Kantemirovsky District, Voronezh Region, in the family of a simple collective farmer. Parents Polikarp Mikhailovich and Marfa Dmitrovna worked in the collective farm named after S.Budyonny. My great-grandfather's childhood was very difficult. From the age of 7 he stayed without father (in the 1930s, his father was exiled from the village, and the family knew nothing more about him), that’s why after graduating from 4 classes in 1937, I.Breslavtsev had to go to work, since the family (his mother and younger sister Pasha) needed additional income. Of course, these events played a huge role in the formation of the personality of Ivan Polikarpovich. At an early age, he showed such qualities as courage, persistence and responsibility. He was sure that he had to help his mother and take care of his younger sister. In 1939, he joined a collective farm and before being drafted into the army, he worked the same hard as adults. Working selflessly, he was eager to go to the front to defend his Motherland. When the war began, he was seventeen years old. He could not fight yet, he was too young, so he decided to devote all his strength to military labour. War ... Much has changed in the two months of the beginning of the war: mothers grew old in an instant, and children matured early. And here is the first entry in the military card of the great-grandfather: “Fit for combat service. August 15, 1941”. Ivan was enrolled in the 16th Reserve Ski Regiment as a cable telephone operator. He served there until April 1942. During the war years, as it was necessary, the young took a machine gun and other weapons in their hands. It was a Separate Communications Company, which performed special tasks related not only to the integrity of the telephone line, but also to the delivery of secret packages to the Regiment Headquarters. According to the directive, Reserve Ski Regiments were staffed by politically proven, physically healthy and strong, ski-trained military personnel, aged 20 to 35 years. I.Breslavtsev was such a type of warrior. In January 1943, Ivan Polikarpovich was enlisted in the 384th Separate Artillery Regiment as a cable telephone operator. And again new tasks, in the heat and in the rain, in the frost and in the snow, the great-grandfather is always ready to carry out any command assignments in order to bring the victory closer. Together with his comrades in arms, he participated in the liberation of Belgorod and Kharkov. There were other military operations, but I don't know much about them, since my great-grandfather talked more about the battles in East Prussia. In April 1945, there were fierce battles near Königsberg. As my great-grandfather said, our soldiers suffered especially heavy losses from German snipers. The Germans kept the highway area under continuous fire. Coastal artillery fired from the northern shore of the bay. Fortress Divisions fired from the southern outskirts of Königsberg, from a distance of 6-7 kilometres. The losses were great. The Germans held a perimeter defence. On April 9, 1945, our troops took the impregnable fortress Königsberg in battle. In one of these battles, Ivan Polikarpovich received his first award - the Medal “For Courage”. There is a short, concrete statement of personal military feat, an extract from the award list: “Lance Corporal Breslavtsev I.P. is initiative and fearless in battles. He studied the material part of the equipment perfectly, he always keeps it in full combat readiness. During the capture of the village of Rostau, under heavy artillery and mortar fire of the enemy, he eliminated 10 gusts in 40/30 minutes, thereby providing clear, uninterrupted communication between the battalion commander and the 4th Company. " The medal was a pride and obliged to fight better, to liberate other territories from the hated invaders sooner. Ivan Polikarpovich has the following awards: the medal "For the capture of Koenigsberg", the medal "For the victory over Germany" and the Order of the Patriotic War II degree, which he received in April 1985. He ended the war in Germany. "Serve the Fatherland!" -these are worthy words, they are full of greatness and strength. Our Motherland will be alive as long as there are defenders of Russia. The dawn is rising, bright and hot, and it will be so indestructible forever. Russia did not begin with a sword, and therefore it is invincible. Peaceful life has retuned. The great-grandfather was transferred from the active army to the 11th Aviation Regiment as a shooter. He served in the city of Königsberg until June 1948. Ivan Polikarpovich returns home in the rank of Junior Sergeant without a single combat wound. He entered the school of machine operators, worked for some time at the MTS, and then as a tractor driver at his own collective farm. In 1951, he married my great-grandmother - Galina Polikarpovna Eremchenko. She worked in the same collective farm like my great-grandfather. She was a professional milkmaid. Then the children Vladimir and Vera were born. From the memoirs of relatives, everyone respected and appreciated the great-grandfather. He treated every deal honestly and conscientiously, enjoyed the authority and respect of his fellow villagers and neighbours. He was interested in reading books, carpentry and, the most important, well-oiled technique. People often came to him for advice. He was kind, terse, was distinguished by his worldly wisdom. In October 2002, Ivan Polikarpovich Breslavtsev died in October 2002. I believe that the names of people like him should not be forgotten. People must remember about the high price of victory . The memory of him lives in the hearts of his loved ones, relatives, friends.