Rank: 2nd rank military technician. Troop type: Armored and mechanized troops. Alexey Epifanovich came to the front in 1943 because he had been in a military school before. He served as a tank driver. He was a crew member of the legendary tank t-34. When his platoon went to the front, the squadron started shooting from the air. The terrain was open so that the view of the enemy pilots was excellent. Many of my grandfather's combat companions were killed. And the platoon commander pushed him off the train into the tux crater left by the grenade. In the next instant, a shell hit the carriage in which Alexey Epifanovich was traveling. In 1944, the crew of Alexei Epifanovich's tank took part in the Yassy-Kishinev operation. The medal "For Courage" Alex Epifanov was awarded for successful operation to capture "language". He and his comrades sat for days in the swamp and as a result of this operation captured two Germans who gave valuable information about the location of their colleagues. When our soldiers marched through the countries of Moldova, it was already summer. It was hot. Street dust was sticking to his clothes and skin. My grandfather, I must admit, was always neat. And since it was not possible to wash with water, he washed with the juice of the grapes as they moved through the numerous vineyards. However, my grandfather never reached Berlin. In one of the battles he was seriously wounded in the face. The bullet did not go deep into the skull, but it hit the nose and smashed it. But thanks to the jewelry art of the field doctors, not only did my grandfather not die, but he also did not become a "freak". His nose was repaired, but due to a serious injury it became a little crooked. Although the grandfather survived, his brothers in arms thought he was dead. And the name Krasotkin Alexey Epifanovich is stamped on one of the commemorative stelae, which stands somewhere in a Moldovan village. After his release from the hospital, the grandfather returned home to his wife and daughter. After the war they had two more children. Alexey Epifanovich lived a happy life of 81 years. He died on March 3, 2007, surrounded by his wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, for whom he forever remained in the memory of the hero of the great war.