Rank: Senior Sergeant. Type of service: - Ground Forces, - Air Force (except naval aviation), - Coast Guard, troops of the NKVD, - Border Guard. Division: 124th rifle division (1st formation). I'm proud of my great-grandfather! Ivan Zakharovich Koltashov was born on June 24, 1916 in the village of Koltashovo in the Ketovsky district in a simple peasant family. He graduated from the 4th grade of primary school, worked in his native village. In 1937, Ivan was drafted into the army, and until December 1939, he served as a radio operator at the military infantry school. After that, he was transferred as a driver to the 1024th aviation head warehouse. The war for Ivan Zakharovich began in Finland (in February 1940). At that time, no one imagined that a more terrible enemy was coming from the West to the country. Already in October, Ivan returned home, thinking-for good. He brought with him a young wife, Anna, whom he met in Belarus when he was a radio operator. But Ivan Koltashov did not stay "in civilian life" for long: already on June 1, 1941, he was called up for mobilization by the Vargashinsky military Commissariat and he was enlisted as a driver in the 500th automobile battalion. So began the long front-line road of the Trans-Ural soldier. The fact that our country was in danger from Germany, the soldiers who have been in the fighting, guessed-no wonder they were called up in early June. But despite all the assumptions and guesses, the war began unexpectedly for them. Ivan Zakharovich spent the entire war on the front line, but fate favored him – he did not even receive a single wound in fierce battles. He served in the 124th separate auto company. His car sped forward through the whistling of bullets and the roar of explosions, eluding the German bombers. Sometimes, he barely managed to jump out of the car as it splashed into pieces. Lying on the side of the road, covered with earth, Ivan realized that death had again passed within a step of him. So, there was still hope to return home, to see his family. Military roads led Ivan Koltashov further to the West. Behind him were the liberated cities, the mass graves that broke the heart of the one looking at them. And the war ended for Ivan on the other side of the earth-on the far Eastern borders of our homeland, where the Kwantung army of Japanese samurai was defeated. Only in June 1946 did the soldier return home with orders and medals on his chest. He was awarded: the Order of "Red Star", - medals "For combat services", - "For the capture of Koenigsberg", - "For the victory over Germany", - "For the victory over Japan” And in peacetime, Ivan Zakharovich did not let go of the steering wheel - he worked as a driver in the district Executive Committee, sanitary epidemiological station, hospital. And only at times, when hunting or fishing, he remembered his front-line road. He was always distinguished by modesty, kindness, and hard work. Together with Anna Stepanovna, they raised six children.