By Victor A. Pogadaev

MOSCOW, Russia: 1941-1945... This date every time causes the bitterness of loss, tears on the face of everyone who knows what it means. After all, nothing can be worse than war in the whole wide world... War... it took thousands of lives of innocent people, soldiers who fought for freedom, for a peaceful sky above our heads, for happiness and, in the end, for our lives... Brave, bold, strong... You can still list their human qualities for a very long time, but most importantly, they did not break under the onslaught of the Nazis, courageously saved the lives of many people and were devoted to their homeland because they loved it... The Russian writer Ivan Turgenev in his novel On the Eve wrote: “When one of us dies for the country, then one can say he loved it”. 
 
The war lasted for a long 4 years, no one knew when it would end, but everyone believed that there was a little left, a little more, and they would return to their relatives and friends, who were waiting for them with bated breath. 
 
And finally on the 9th of May the long-awaited Victory Day came. “A celebration with tears in eyes” because more than 8 million Soviet soldiers died in that war which was not for nothing called the Great Patriotic War. Among them was a grandfather of my wife, Peter Yakunin.
 
He was born in 1903 in the village of Kashino, now the Kimovsky district of the Tula region, in a peasant family. Graduated from elementary school and worked on a collective farm. From 1924 he lived in Moscow where became a cutter at the Proletariy saddlery factory.
 
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany treacherously, without declaring war, attacked the Soviet Union. And already in August, Peter was in the Red army as a private. 
 
In 1941 he fought on the Western, Bryansk, Central fronts, participated in battles near Tula, liberated Kaluga, in 1942 took part in the defense of the line near the city of Novosil, Oryol region, in 1943 fought on the Kursk Bulge, liberated the Zmievka station, crossed the Desna river north of the city of Novgorod-Seversky. Particularly distinguished himself during the crossing of the Desna near the village of Lenkov. 
 
On September 10, 1943 he was the first to cross the river. Stretching out a rope, he transported the battalion soldiers and ammunition on a raft. He was wounded, but continued combat until he was killed. 
 
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated January 15, 1944 he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for "exemplary performance of combat missions of command on the front of the struggle against the German invaders and the courage and heroism shown at the same time". 
 
We remember our heroic ancestor, tell our children and grandchildren about him. He will remain in our hearts and will live in them forever...
 
On May 9, children, adults and pensioners come to honor the memory of the fallen and present flowers and congratulations to those who survived, and for whom this day has become the most memorable and happiest day of the year! Eternal memory to you, heroes of the Great Patriotic War, we will always remember your deeds, losses, losses, pain, suffering...
 
*Dr. Victor A. Pogadaev is a Russian historian, orientalist, and translator. He specializes in the history and culture of South-East Asia and translates literary works from Malay and Indonesian into Russian and vice versa. He is also a noted lexicographer.*