Rank: Junior Lieutenant. Troops: artillery. Division: 330th Rifle Division of Mogilev Red Banner Order of Suvorov. When the war began, Ivan was not even seventeen. He just finished 9th grade. In July 1942, he joined the special forces. Young and reckless chonovtsy made daring forays into the enemy's environment, cut the wires, breaking the connection; picked up weapons left by the enemy, firing at the fascists; knowing the area, led out of the encirclement the Soviet soldiers. In May 1942, Ivan Kondrashov was drafted into the army. After finishing mortar school in Kaluga, he was sent to the front. And after completing the Junior Lieutenant courses, he became the commander of a rifle platoon. He participated in the defense of Kirov. When the offensive began, he was ordered to block the dot. The firing point was destroyed, but almost the entire platoon was killed. Ivan was seriously wounded in both legs. On this day, August 12, 1943, he turned 19. His life was saved by a nurse, who agreed on a direct blood transfusion. She put a note with his name and address in the pocket of her tunic. The tunic was taken off at the hospital and disappeared along with the address. He had to be treated for a long time in hospitals in Kaluga, Moscow and Stalinsk. Miraculously he managed to avoid amputation of the legs. He returned home only in 1944 with his father, who was also commissioned after being wounded. After the war, Ivan spent a long time looking for his Savior Zinaida Kiseleva, the name he remembered. All in vain. He decided that she got married, changed her last name. He didn't want to think that she might not had come back from the war. Chance brought them together before May 9, the year of the 45th anniversary of the end of the war. Ivan rushed to Zinaida with hugs, she couldn't remember him — how many of such fighters passed through her hands! It was a joyous meeting. Ivan is my father. We, children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, are grateful to everyone who went through this war and fought for our lives and our country. We honor the memory of those who died in this war. Let there be Peace on Earth.