Mikhail Balabanov (14.01.1923-29.05.2007) was born in the village of Gerasimovka in the family of a rural blacksmith. He had a sister Anastasia. There he graduated from primary school. Then in Penza he graduated from eight classes of secondary school in 1939. He accidentally got to Buzuluk, read an ad for admission to a hydro-reclamation technical school, passed the exams and started studying. He completed two years of technical school in 1941. The war began. Having learned that in Samara they are recruiting cadets in radio operator’s school, together with his classmates, he applied in the military enlistment office. After completing the course of radio operators, Mikhail was sent to Gorky in the reserve of the Main Signal Department and at the end of May 1942 was assigned to a mortar battery of the 59th Cavalry Artillery Detachment of the 55th Cavalry Division. Rank: Junior Military Technician. In June 1942 the entire division, on alert, plunged into the echelon and was transferred to the area of Yelets, and in November they were transferred to the Don River, where on November 19, 1942, the German front was broken through and the cavalry Artillery detachment moved West with fighting. They liberated villages of Chernyshevskaya, Oblivskaya, and Morozovsk. The Germans stubbornly resisted in the Rostov Region, and in January 1943, while moving to a new observation post, Mikhail was wounded and sent to the hospital. After recovery, he was sent to the 137th Separate Army Signal Regiment. From Dnepropetrovsk they reached the border, liberated Moldova, and fought their way through Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria. Mikhail and his regiment met the victory in Czechoslovakia. Mikhail Balabanov served as a private soldier from May 1942 to March 1947. He was discharged only on March 24, 1947 and continued his studies at the technical school. Awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd degree, medals For Bravery, For the Victory over Germany, Veteran of Labor and commemorative medals.