Rank: lieutenant. Troop type: Armored and mechanized troops. Unit: 7th Armored Division. My grandfather, Mikhail Filippovich Kushlak, was born into a peasant family on 25 March 1921. His childhood was not an easy one, from an early age he had to work with his father in a collective farm. At the age of 17 he was sent to study at the Minsk tank school. After he finished school in 1941 he immediately went to the front. He could not go home, the Germans were on the advance. His branch moved via Mariupol in the direction of North Caucasus. The T-34 tanks were not improved compared to the German "Tigers". My great-grandfather in the rank of a lieutenant was a high-ranking driver in the 7th Tank Division and was responsible for all problems with the tank, because he knew every detail. In 1942 they reached Stalingrad. It was a hard fight, a real "meat grinder". They came to the rescue when the soldiers stood until death, did not move forward, but did not let the Germans pass. "Moscow is behind us", said the soldiers, "we will stand to the last." During the first offensive many tanks were destroyed, one of them was the tank of a great-grandfather. Great-grandfather had a grenade explosion, and when he got out of the burning tank through the lower hatch, his legs were badly broken and he was seriously injured. These injured were transported to the rear, and the great-grandfather was transferred to the hospital of Ashgabat, where he was operated on. He lost a lot of blood, needed a transfusion, and the blood of the first group was given to him by a nurse working there - a hostess named Fenya. When he was discharged, he was desperate to go to the front, but the doctors concluded: "Fit for not fighting". Since he had nowhere to go, my great-grandfather stayed in Ashgabat. He married the same mistress named Fenya, and they lived together for more than 50 years. Great-grandfather received many awards: "For bravery", bravery and courage in the fight against the fascist invaders, for the heroic defense of Stalingrad - the Order of the Patriotic War, the "Medal of Bravery" and other awards. At the front he received shrapnel wounds in the soft tissues of the right thigh, shrapnel wounds in the left shin.