Rank: Petty Officer War… It brought so much grief, fear and suffering to people. Her bloody wing striked my family, too. Unfortunately, my great-grandfather Mikhail Matveyevich Kostsov did not live long enough for me to see him alive, but the memory of him and his military service lives on in our family. My grandfather, grandmother, mother, godfather – all my relatives tell me a lot about my great-grandfather. My grandfather Mikhail Matveyevich Kostsov was born on October 1, 1913 in a large family of railway workers. His father fought on the frontline in the civil war, so after the announcement of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War in October 1941, my great-grandfather, without hesitation, went to the frontlines. He fought fairly and bravely for the freedom of our Motherland and was repeatedly awarded medals. I want to tell you about two of his awards: the medal "For Military Merit" and the medal "For Bravery", which are especially dear to us, because they reveal the character of my great-grandfather, his humanity and kind soul. In April 1944, an order was signed to award my great-grandfather M. M. Kostsov the medal "For Military Merit". While his company was working on a mission on construction of dams, controlling and maintenance of the bridge across the Sivash in the area of Kosa Gromovskiy district of Zaporzhskaya region from 30 January to 28 March 1944, my great-grandfather, being the foreman of the company, showed fatherly concern for the members of the company, in difficult combat conditions, in the absence of a source of drinking water and fuel in close proximity, he was able to find food for the his people, providing hot meals three times a day under any military conditions. The award list states: "The courageous sergeant personally delivered food to the place of combat missions, providing hot meals to the company in a timely manner, despite the enemy's artillery fire and aerial bombing. Despite the difficulty of the conditions, he organized a bathhouse, systematically letting the company's personnel through it. For the fatherly care for the personnel, contributing to the exemplary performance of combat tasks, he is worthy of the Government award the medal "For Military Merit". Great-grandfather was awarded the medal "For Bravery" on September 3, 1945. During the combat operations of the Trans-Baikal frontline, foreman M. M. Kostsov delivered timber for the construction of wells in a semi-desert area, thereby ensuring the supply of water to passing parts of the army. During the construction of the bridge over the Liaohe river near the city of Tongliao (Manchuria), my great-grandfather organized the filling and transportation of bags of earth to save the bridge, which enabled all types of transport to pass across the river. Grandfather did not ignore the grief and misery of other people. Once, during a heavy bombardment, people ran haphazardly trying to save themselves. My great-grandfather also ran towards the forest, but suddenly saw a man drowning in the swamp. He immediately rushed to save him and barely made it himself. This man was their company commander. My great-grandfather walked the whole of our country on foot! He had to fight in the Japanese War. My grandfather did not return home until the end of 1946. I am proud of my great-grandfather! He was a smart, honest, fair, courageous, resourceful, brave man! He will always be alive in our hearts!