He was called up to serve in the Red Army from the Kerch radio center, where he worked as a technician. And who could have guessed that in two years the most brutal war would break out... Nikolai Bessarabenko was lucky enough to finish the regimental school and get the rank of Sergeant. In the first months of the war, he went to the frontline as the head of a company radio station. Fascist troops had already occupied Nikolaev. Exhausted by heavy fighting, the Red Army units retreated. The artillery division, in which Bessarabenko served among others, was given the task of covering the retreat and preventing the enemy's motorized troops from developing an attack. Several times the fascists tried to seize the height, but were not successful. Sergeant Bessarabenko was shot in the right forearm, but did not leave the battlefield. Only in the evening, when the battle died down, did his strength leave him. The soldier was sent to the hospital. And, again, to the frontline. This time it was the Stalingrad frontline. And, again, to the fight. He got a second wound. He underwent a severe surgery: the doctors removed a shard from his chest that had damaged the lungs. Until June, Nikolai was in Murom. And then, again, the frontline. He got sent to the 18th guards’ division. There he took the oath of the guards. The Soviet forces were advancing. The advance was successful. But that did not make it any less bloody... An artillery division of sixteen anti-tank guns, led by N. A. Bessarabenko, was ambushed. Intelligence had reported that the German "Tigers" and " Panthers" were concentrated there. "Remember," Bessarabenko told the soldiers, " if you don't hit the target with the third shell, you won't need the fourth one. Tanks are not to be trifled with.” They did not have to wait long. Up to twelve enemy tanks appeared from behind the forest ridge. They were going at high speed. In a matter of minutes, six tanks were hit. The others raced across the open ground, quick firing in return. And for the third time Bessarabenko had given blood to his motherland. We do not forget about the military exploits of veterans. So, Bessarabenko has not been forgot. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR, Nikolai Andreevich Bessarabenko was awarded the medal "For Military Merit" for military distinctions in the battles against the Nazi invaders during the Great Patriotic war. This is his third battle award.