Type of Army: Land Forces, Air Force (except for naval aviation), Coast Service, NKVD troops, Border Guards. Gridnev Ivan Andreevich, my great-grandfather, was originally from the village of Tantsyrei Borisoglebsky district of the Voronezh region. This is where the Gridnev family comes from. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Gridnev family moved to Popovsky village (now it does not exist). The family did not live very well, they worked very hard to feed themselves. With the advent of Soviet power, collective farms began to be formed, and my great-grandfather immediately joined the collective farm. He got married, and his family started having children: Vasily, Nikolay (my grandfather), and Viktor. On June 22, 1941t he Great Patriotic War began. On September 27.1941 my great-grandfather was mobilized to the front. He got into the 611th Rifle Regiment of the 88th Rifle division, which at that time was fighting a fierce battle on the Karelian front. From military reports: ""By the end of November 1941, the division of 17 thousand personnel originally turnrd to have only 3 thousand people. The division was taken out for re-formation."" It happened on April 29, 1942 at the station Savelovo. Final formation included: the 426th, the 611th, the758th units, the 401st Artillery Regiment and other units. The formation was carried out on the basis of the 39th Rifle Brigade (Commander A.F. Bolotov). On July 9, 1942, the formation of the division was completed, and it was sent to the Western front as part of the 31st Artillery Unit. The division participated in Pogorelov-Gorodishche operation in 1942, led the battles of Rzhev, Zubtsov. For the successful implementation of operations to liberate Belarus, the division was given the honorary name ""Vitebsk"". The division conducted combat operations until May 1945.Reading these lines, you understand how difficult the front-line path of your great-grandfather was. On August 12, 1943, in the battle of Vitebsk, my great-grandfather was seriously wounded in the lung. Until October 1943, he was treated in a hospital. After this injury, he was transferred ""to the second echelon"", worked as a carpenter, built bridges, repaired cars. For conscientious work, Ivan Andreevich was awarded the Medal ""For military merit""(award list of I. A. Gridnev).His name is forever included in the book Soldiers of Victory. Together with his regiment, he went all over Europe, and met victory in Germany. On August 2, 1945, he was discharged from the Army and returned to his native Popovsky village, began to raise our country from ruins. When I was born, my great-grandfather was already very old. In my childhood memories, I remember him as a tall, always smiling old man. I was his eldest great-granddaughter, and he loved me very much. When I visited him, he would play the harmonica and say: ""Girl, dance!». And I danced. In January 1978, my great-grandfather fell ill. He told everyone: ""I'm going to lie down for a while and get up."" But he didn't get up. On January 28, 1978, Ivan Andreevich Gridnev died. I am proud that my ancestor was a Good Simple Soviet Soldier-Ivan Andreevich Gridnev, the Hero of my family! Trofimova N. P., the eldest great-granddaughter of I. A. Gridnev."