CITY: s. Gremyacha, Krasnochikoi district, Chita region DATE OF BIRTH: 02/15/1925 DATE OF DEATH: 06/14/2015 HISTORY: Title: Red Army soldier. Type of troops: Artillery. Victory Day. There is probably not a single family that was bypassed by the events of the terrible war days. My family is no exception. My grandfather, Vladimir Grigorievich Lipatnikov, served and defended the Motherland for 7 and a half years. Born on February 15, 1925. In addition to him, the family had three more children. Neither childhood nor youth can be called easy. In 1937, a heavy wave of arrests swept through the village. 26 people were taken away from Gremyachi as enemies of the people. Among them was the elder Lipatnikov, the father of his grandfather. Posthumously, many years later, his father was rehabilitated. For work and cares he grew up, made plans, dreamed. But they were not destined to come true: the war began. On January 7, 1943, when he was not yet 18, grandfather was drafted into the army. To Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky, one consignment was transported in open bodies of trucks, the second - on horses. The further route was to the Tsugolsky Datsan, where a separate artillery division was stationed. So the service began and continued in its composition. Before the start of the war with Japan, they studied military affairs, studied weapons, underwent artillery training, and herded horses. These horses saved many lives, or rather food for them. There was not enough food, they fed the horses and ate oats themselves. Many people died due to dystrophy, especially those who were from the West. Those who were admitted to the hospital never returned. 2 weeks before the start of the war, the division was brought up to the very border with Japan. On August 9, at 4:00 am, our troops crossed the border. Our technical armament was stronger, and the soldiers, both Soviet and Japanese, had rifles as their main weapon. The regiment in which my grandfather served was thrown to the rear, to break through. They did not get involved in the battle, but the panic in the rear of the troops was catching up strong. Then the fighting began. The guns, self-propelled guns, tanks rumbled- everything mixed in a single rattling roar. The Japanese could not withstand the onslaught of the Soviet troops, began to surrender, and soon announced a complete surrender. The war did not last long, during this time I had seen enough of everything: death and injury, loss of comrades in arms, severe hostilities ... Grandpa was lucky: enemy bullets flew past, he did not receive a single wound. Many colleagues demobilized and went home, my grandfather also dreamed about it, but his dream came true only after 5 long years. He was transferred to the troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to accompany and protect the Japanese prisoners. There were many of them. They accompanied the prisoners to the town of Taishet, Irkutsk region. The Japanese worked on the construction of the Taishet-Bratsk railway. They cut down and uprooted the forest, built bridges, made embankments, drained swamps. And every day, and every hour, there were guards with them, escorted to and from work, guarded. So two and a half years passed. Then he was transferred to the city of Krasnoyarsk, where he also guarded Japanese prisoners for two and a half years. He was demobilized in May 1950, the last from the village. From the memoirs of his sisters and niece: "We no longer hoped to see, there were no letters from him, no news." It was not because it was forbidden to write letters. The war ended, peace was built, but the post-war events continued. Upon his return, grandfather went to work on a collective farm. There was no education, so he went to work on a collective farm for various jobs. Most of all, his soul was in animal husbandry. Therefore, from 1957 to 1985, his work was connected with sheep breeding. He found his calling and worked as a shepherd for 28 years. He put his whole heart and soul into the work. Only a person who loves his job and has a heightened sense of responsibility can be so committed to work. Every day, at 6 o'clock in the morning, he drove his flock to graze, leaving with it away from the village, climbing the hills and mountains. He returned home almost at midnight, devoted the whole day to work. The flocks were rather big - 500 ewes, and about the same number of lambs. He knew each animal by special, which only he knew signs. He did not like it if they laid - he lifted and dispersed them so that they could eat enough. He did not give himself indulgences either in heat or bad weather. In any weather, animals are treated equally. Diligence and this attitude to work yielded results. The regional newspaper often wrote about the achievements. He was the best shepherd in the area, received 92 lambs from 100 ewes, the record was 116 lambs from 100 heads. My grandfather has a whole stack of certificates for anniversary military medals and the Order of the Patriotic War of the 2nd degree, and a whole book of certificates of honor and letters of thanks. Collective farm labor is not easy. Health is undermined. But he does not whine, does not complain, does not boast, he tries to keep silent about his merits, he just talks about work. A position worthy of a veteran. Life was difficult, but successful.