Rank: Senior Sergeant. Branch of troops: army, air forces (except marine aviation), the coast guard, the troops of the NKVD border troops. My grandfather, Grachev Nikolai Denisovich, was born on September 14, 1921 in the village of Pokrovka (steppe Mamykovo) Kuibyshev region in the family of a railway worker. Two of his brothers were also railway workers, and the third brother was a military man. Graduated from the 7 classes. From the age of 14 and till army service he worked in the railway depot of the Nurlat station as a handyman where he walked from his village that was at the distance of 7 km. In April of 1941 by Nurlat October military enlistment office he was drafted into the army. The war began then he was at the Belarusian border. He fought in the Second guards tank corps with the rank of guard Senior Sergeant. Participated in the liberation of the cities of Stalingrad, Yelnya, Smolensk, Minsk. During the war Grachev was shell-shocked. Once his regiment was encircled. Met Victory day in Konigsberg. Awarded with medals: "For Bravery", "for Military Merit", "for the Capture of Konigsberg", "for the Defense of Stalingrad", the order of the Patriotic War II degree, as well as commemorative awards. After the war, he returned to his homeland. Only 5 people returned home alive from those on the train which took them to the army. Grachev continued his work at the depot in Nurlat city Tatar ASSR at first a fireman, then as an assistant engineer. After retirement, he got a job as a stoker in a boiler room, where he worked until the age of 75. His family was large - 4 sons and 1 daughter, 10 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. Grachev Nikolay Denisovich passed away in 2007 at the age of 86 in Nurlat, Republic of Tatarstan.