My great-grandfather Vasily Bedyukh was originally from Ukraine, from a large family of a blacksmith. Before the Great Patriotic War, he graduated from the military aviation school with a degree in aircraft engineering. Vasily was preparing the planes for flights and repaired them. Military Technician of the 2nd rank. My great-grandfather went through the entire war, liberated Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany, and was wounded twice. Great-grandfather was awarded the Order of the Red Star, he had three such orders, had many medals. The front-line newspaper wrote about him. I'll tell you how he got the first order. It was in the Caucasus. The Germans were advancing, and the planes could not be left to the Germans! Either blow them up or fly away. One plane could not be started, and then great-grandfather decided to warm the engine to start. It was winter and the grease froze, the fuel did not enter the engine. It was absolutely impossible to do this – the plane could explode. But great-grandfather took a chance and the engine started. He saved the machine! The plane flew away, and great-grandfather and other soldiers remained to protect the airfield, so that the rest could have time to move as far as possible to our troops. And here were German tanks! Great-grandfather crawled up to the German tank and threw a grenade. The tank caught fire, and the other tanks turned back. Then my great-grandfather and other soldiers fought for a long time with the infantrymen for the airfield. So his air regiment managed to relocate far away. While he was getting to his regiment, he was shot in the leg. Vasily was in the hospital for a long time. Still, he returned to his regiment, where he was expected. Great-grandfather's hands are made of gold! After aerial combats our planes came back riddled with bullets, barely able to get to the airfield. And great-grandfather "patched" them for days, that is, all the holes were closed, the engines were restored. He finished his military service in Czechoslovakia. After the d war, my great-grandfather worked for the Gorky Aviation Plant (Nizhny Novgorod). He loved airplanes. Already in peacetime, he flew to Ukraine many times to meet with his fellow soldiers. He died in 1989 and was buried in Nizhny Novgorod. He was 74 years old. All his orders and medals are kept in our family.