Before the war, they were the most ordinary boys and girls. They studied, helped the elders, played, bred pigeons, sometimes even took part in fights. But the hour of hard trials has come and they proved how huge an ordinary little child's heart can become when a sacred love for the Motherland, pain for the fate of its people and hatred of enemies flares up in it. And no one expected that it was these boys and girls who were able to accomplish a great feat for the glory of the freedom and independence of their Motherland!
Children who remained in the destroyed cities and villages became homeless, doomed to starvation. It was scary and difficult to stay in the territory occupied by the enemy. Children could be sent to a concentration camp, taken to work in Germany, turned into slaves, made donors for German soldiers, etc.
Here are the names of some of them: Volodya Kazmin, Yura Zhdanko, Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Lara Mikheenko, Valya Kotik, Tanya Morozova, Vitya Korobkov, Zina Portnova. Many of them fought so hard that they deserved military orders and medals, and four: Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova, Lenya Golikov became Heroes Soviet Union.
From the first days of the occupation, the boys and girls began to act at their own peril and risk, which was really deadly.
"Fedya Samodurov. Fedya is 14 years old, he is a graduate of the motorized rifle unit, commanded by the guard captain A. Chernavin. Fedya was picked up in his homeland, in the ruined village of the Voronezh region. Together with a unit, he took part in the battles for Ternopil, with a machine-gun crew he kicked the Germans out of the city. When almost the entire crew died, the teenager, together with the surviving soldier, took up the machine gun, firing long and hard, and detained the enemy. Fedya was awarded the medal "For Courage".
Vanya Kozlov, 13 years old,he was left without relatives and has been in a motorized rifle unit for the second year. At the front, he delivers food, newspapers and letters to soldiers in the most difficult conditions.
Petya Zub. Petya Zub chose a no less difficult specialty. He had long ago decided to become a scout. His parents were killed, and he knows how to pay off the accursed German. Together with experienced scouts, he gets to the enemy, reports his location on the radio, and artillery fires at their orders, crushing the Nazis. "(Arguments and Facts, No. 25, 2010, p. 42).
A sixteen year old schoolgirl Olya Demesh with her younger sister Lida at the Orsha station in Belarus, on the instructions of the commander of the partisan brigade S. Zhulin, tanks with fuel were blown up using magnetic mines. Of course, the girls attracted much less attention of the German guards and policemen than teenage boys or adult men. But after all, it was just right for the girls to play with dolls, and they fought with Wehrmacht soldiers!
Thirteen-year-old Lida often took a basket or a bag and went to railways collect coal, extracting intelligence on German military echelons. If she was stopped by sentries, she explained that she was collecting coal to heat the room in which the Germans lived. The Nazis seized and shot Olya's mother and younger sister Lida, and Olya continued to fearlessly carry out the tasks of the partisans.
For the head of the young partisan Olya Demes, the Nazis promised a generous reward - land, a cow and 10,000 marks. Copies of her photograph were distributed and sent to all patrol services, policemen, elders and secret agents. Capture and deliver her alive - that was the order! But the girl could not be caught. Olga destroyed 20 German soldiers and officers, derailed 7 enemy echelons, conducted reconnaissance, participated in the "rail war", in the destruction of German punitive units.
Children of the Great Patriotic War
What happened to the children during this terrible time? During the war?
The guys worked for days at factories, factories and industries, standing behind the machines instead of the brothers and fathers who had gone to the front. Children also worked at defense enterprises: they made fuses for mines, fuses for hand grenades, smoke bombs, colored signal flares, and collected gas masks. They worked in agriculture, grew vegetables for hospitals.
In the school sewing workshops, the pioneers sewed underwear and tunics for the army. Girls knitted warm clothes for the front: mittens, socks, scarves, sewed pouches for tobacco. The guys helped the wounded in hospitals, wrote letters to their relatives under their dictation, put on performances for the wounded, arranged concerts, evoking a smile from war-torn adult men.
A number of objective reasons: the departure of teachers to the army, the evacuation of the population from the western regions to the eastern ones, the inclusion of students in labor activity in connection with the departure of the breadwinners of the family to the war, the transfer of many schools to hospitals, etc., prevented the deployment in the USSR during the war of a universal seven-year compulsory education, which began in the 30s. In the remaining educational institutions, training was conducted in two or three, and sometimes four shifts.
At the same time, the children themselves were forced to store firewood for boiler houses. There were no textbooks, and because of the lack of paper, they wrote on old newspapers between the lines. Nevertheless, new schools were opened and additional classes were created. Boarding schools were created for evacuated children. For those young people who left school at the beginning of the war and were employed in industry or agriculture, schools for working and rural youth were organized in 1943.
In the annals of the Great Patriotic War there are still many little-known pages, for example, the fate of kindergartens. "It turns out that in December 1941 in besieged Moscowkindergartens worked in bomb shelters. When the enemy was driven back, they resumed their work faster than many universities. By the autumn of 1942, 258 kindergartens had opened in Moscow!
From the memories of the military childhood of Lydia Ivanovna Kostyleva:
“After the death of my grandmother, I was assigned to kindergarten, older sister at school, mother at work. I went to kindergarten alone, by tram, when I was less than five years old. Once I became seriously ill with mumps, I was lying at home alone with high temperature, there were no medicines, in delirium I fancied a pig running under the table, but everything worked out.
I saw my mother in the evenings and on rare weekends. Children were brought up by the street, we were friendly and always hungry. From early spring, they ran to the mosses, the benefit of the forest and swamps nearby, picked berries, mushrooms, and various early grass. The bombings gradually stopped, allied residences were placed in our Arkhangelsk, this brought a certain color to life - we, the children, sometimes got warm clothes, some food. Basically, we ate black shangi, potatoes, seal meat, fish and fish oil, on holidays - seaweed marmalade, tinted with beets.
More than five hundred teachers and nannies in the fall of 1941 were digging trenches on the outskirts of the capital. Hundreds worked in logging. The teachers, who only yesterday led a round dance with the children, fought in the Moscow militia. Natasha Yanovskaya, a kindergarten teacher in the Bauman district, heroically died near Mozhaisk. The teachers who remained with the children did not perform feats. They just saved the kids, whose fathers fought, and their mothers stood at the machines.
Most of the kindergartens during the war became boarding schools, the children were there day and night. And in order to feed the children in a half-starved time, to protect them from the cold, to give them at least a modicum of comfort, to keep them occupied for the benefit of the mind and soul - for such work were necessary great love to children, deep decency and boundless patience". (D. Shevarov "World of News", No. 27, 2010, p. 27).
Children's games have changed, "... a new game has appeared - in the hospital. They used to play in the hospital before, but not like that. Now the wounded are real people for them. But they play war less often, because no one wants to be a fascist. This role is played by they are performed by trees. They shoot snowballs at them. We learned to help the injured - the fallen, the bruised."
From a letter from a boy to a front-line soldier: “We also often played war before, but now much less often - we are tired of the war, it would sooner end so that we could live well again ...” (Ibid.).
In connection with the death of parents, many homeless children appeared in the country. The Soviet state, despite the difficult wartime, still fulfilled its obligations to children left without parents. To combat neglect, a network of children's reception centers and orphanages was organized and opened, and employment for adolescents was organized.
Many families of Soviet citizens began to take in orphans to raisewhere they found new parents. Unfortunately, not all educators and heads of children's institutions were distinguished by honesty and decency. Here are some examples.
"In the autumn of 1942, in the Pochinkovsky district of the Gorky region, children dressed in rags were caught stealing potatoes and grain from collective farm fields. It turned out that the pupils of the district orphanage. And they did it not from a good life. During further investigation, local police officers uncovered a criminal group, and, in fact, a gang consisting of employees of this institution.
In total, seven people were arrested in the case, including the director of the orphanage Novoseltsev, the accountant Sdobnov, the storekeeper Mukhina and others. During the searches, 14 children's coats, seven suits, 30 meters of cloth, 350 meters of manufactory and other misappropriated property, allocated by the state with great difficulty during this harsh wartime, were seized from them.
The investigation found that by not giving the due norm of bread and products, these criminals only during 1942 stole seven tons of bread, half a ton of meat, 380 kg of sugar, 180 kg of biscuits, 106 kg of fish, 121 kg of honey, etc. The orphanage workers sold all these scarce products in the market or simply ate them up themselves.
Only one comrade Novoseltsev received fifteen portions of breakfasts and lunches daily for himself and his family members. At the expense of the pupils, the rest of the staff also ate well. Children were fed "dishes" made from rot and vegetables, referring to the poor supply.
For the whole of 1942, they were only once given one piece of candy for the 25th anniversary of the October Revolution ... And what is most surprising, the director of the orphanage, Novoseltsev, in the same 1942 received a certificate of honor from the People's Commissariat of Education for excellent educational work. All these fascists were deservedly sentenced to long terms of imprisonment."
At such a time, the whole essence of a person is manifested .. Every day to face a choice - how to act .. And the war showed us examples of great mercy, great heroism and great cruelty, great meanness .. We must remember this !! For the sake of the future!!
And no time can heal the wounds of the war, especially those of children. “These years that were once, the bitterness of childhood does not allow to forget ...”
During the Great Patriotic War, many Soviet citizens (not only soldiers) performed heroic deeds, saving other people's lives and bringing the USSR's victory over the German invaders closer. These people are rightfully considered heroes. In our article, we recall some of them.
Heroes men
The list of heroes of the Soviet Union who became famous during the Great Patriotic War is quite extensive, therefore Let's name the most famous:
- Nikolai Gastello (1907-1941): Hero of the Union posthumously, squadron commander. After being bombed by German heavy equipment, Gastello's plane was hit. On a burning bomber, the pilot rammed an enemy column;
- Viktor Talalikhin (1918-1941): Hero of the USSR, deputy squadron commander, participated in the battle for Moscow. One of the first Soviet pilots who rammed the enemy in a night air battle;
- Alexander Matrosov (1924-1943): Hero of the Union posthumously, private, shooter. In a battle near the village of Chernushki (Pskov region), he closed the embrasure of a German firing point;
- Alexander Pokryshkin (1913-1985): three times Hero of the USSR, fighter pilot (recognized as an ace), improved combat techniques (about 60 victories), went through the entire war (about 650 sorties), air marshal (since 1972);
- Ivan Kozhedub (1920-1991): three times Hero, fighter pilot (ace), squadron commander, participant in the Battle of Kursk, made about 330 sorties (64 victories). He became famous for his effective shooting technique (200-300 m before the enemy) and the absence of cases when the plane was shot down;
- Alexey Maresyev (1916-2001): Hero, deputy squadron commander, fighter pilot. He is famous for the fact that after the amputation of both legs, using prostheses, he was able to return to combat flights.
Rice. 1. Nikolai Gastello.
In 2010, an extensive Russian electronic database "The Feat of the People" was created, containing reliable information from official documents about the participants in the war, their exploits and awards.
Women's heroes
Separately, it is worth highlighting the women heroes of the Great Patriotic War.
Some of them:
- Valentina Grizodubova (1909-1993): the first female pilot - Hero of the Soviet Union, instructor pilot (5 world air records), commander of an air regiment, made about 200 sorties (of which 132 were night);
- Lyudmila Pavlichenko (1916-1974): Hero of the Union, world famous sniper, instructor at the sniper school, participated in the defense of Odessa and Sevastopol. Destroyed about 309 opponents, including 36 snipers;
- Lydia Litvyak (1921-1943): Hero posthumously, fighter pilot (ace), squadron flight commander, participated in the Battle of Stalingrad, battles in the Donbass (168 sorties, 12 victories in air battles);
- Ekaterina Budanova (1916-1943): Hero Russian Federation posthumously (listed as missing in the USSR), fighter pilot (ace), repeatedly fought against superior enemy forces, including going into a frontal attack (11 victories);
- Ekaterina Zelenko (1916-1941): Hero of the Union posthumously, deputy squadron commander. The only Soviet female pilot who participated in the Soviet-Finnish war. The only woman in the world who rammed an enemy aircraft (in Belarus);
- Evdokia Bershanskaya (1913-1982): the only woman awarded the Order of Suvorov. Pilot, commander of the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment (1941-1945). The regiment was exclusively female. For the skill of performing combat missions, he received the nickname "night witches". Particularly distinguished himself in the liberation of the Taman Peninsula, Feodosia, Belarus.
Rice. 2. Pilots of the 46th Guards Aviation Regiment.
05/09/2012 in Tomsk, the modern movement "Immortal Regiment" was born, designed to honor the memory of the heroes of the Second World War. Through the streets of the city, residents carried about two thousand portraits of their relatives who participated in the war. The movement became massive. Every year the number of participating cities increases, covering even other countries. In 2015, the Immortal Regiment action received official permission and took place in Moscow immediately after the Victory Parade.
What feats of the Great Patriotic War do we know about? Alexander Matrosov, who closed the embrasure; Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, who was tortured by the Nazis; pilot Alexei Maresyev, who lost both legs, but continued to fight ... It is unlikely that anyone will be able to remember the names of other heroes. Meanwhile, there are a lot of people who have done the impossible to protect their homeland. The streets of our cities are named after them, and we do not even know who they are and what they have done. The editors decided to correct this situation - we invite you to learn about the 10 most incredible feats of the Great Patriotic War.
Nicholas Gastello
Nicholas Gastello
Nikolai Gastello was a military pilot, captain, commander of the 2nd squadron of the 207th long-range bomber aviation regiment. Before the Great Patriotic War, Gastello worked as a simple mechanic. He went through three wars, a year before the Second World War he received the rank of captain.
On June 26, 1941, the crew, commanded by Nikolai Gastello, took off to hit the German mechanized column, located between the Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Radoshkovichi. During the operation, Gastello's plane was hit by an anti-aircraft gun - the plane caught fire. Nikolai could have ejected, but instead he directed the burning plane at the German column. Before that, during the entire period of the Second World War, no one had done this, therefore, after the feat accomplished by Gastello, all the pilots who decided to go to the ram were called Gastellites.
Lenya Golikov Lenya Golikov
Lenya Golikov during the Great Patriotic War was in the Leningrad partisan brigade as a brigade scout of the 67th detachment of the 4th. When the Second World War began, he was 15 years old, he joined the partisan detachment when the Germans captured his native Novgorod region. During his stay in the partisan brigade, he managed to take part in twenty-seven operations, destroy several bridges behind enemy lines, destroy ten trains carrying ammunition, and kill more than seventy Germans.
In the summer of 1942, near the village of Varnitsa, Lenya Golikov blew up a car in which the German major general of engineering troops, Richard von Wirtz, was driving. As a result of this operation, Golikov was able to obtain important documents that spoke of the German offensive. This made it possible to thwart the impending German attack. For this feat, Golikov was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. He died in battle in the winter of 1943 near the village of Ostraya Luka, he was 16 years old.
Zina Portnova Zina Portnova
Zina Portnova was a scout of the Voroshilov partisan detachment, which operated in the territory occupied by the Germans. When the war began, Zina was in Belarus on vacation. In 1942, at the age of 16, she joined the underground organization "Young Avengers", where at first she was engaged in distributing anti-fascist leaflets in the territories occupied by the Germans. Then Zina got a job in the canteen for German officers. There, she committed a series of sabotage, the Germans did not capture her only by a miracle.
In 1943, Zina joined a partisan detachment, where she continued to engage in sabotage behind enemy lines. But soon, thanks to reports from traitors who sided with the Germans, Zina was captured, where she was subjected to severe torture. However, the enemies underestimated the young girl - the torture did not force her to betray her own, and during one of the interrogations, Zina managed to grab a gun and kill three Germans. Soon after this, Zina Portnova was shot, she was 17 years old.
Young guard Young guard
This was the name of an underground anti-fascist organization that operated in the area of the modern Luhansk region. The "Young Guard" included more than a hundred participants, the youngest of whom was only fourteen years old. The most famous members of the Young Guard are Oleg Koshevoy, Ulyana Gromova, Lyubov Shevtsova, Vasily Levashov, Sergey Tyulenin and others.
Members of this underground organization issued and distributed leaflets in the German-occupied territory, and also committed acts of sabotage. As a result of one of the sabotage, they were able to disable an entire repair shop in which the Germans repaired tanks. They also managed to burn down the stock exchange, from where the Germans drove people to Germany.
The traitors handed over the members of the Young Guard to the Germans just before the planned uprising. More than 70 members of the organization were taken prisoner, tortured and then shot.
Viktor Talalikhin Viktor Talalikhin
Victor Talalikhin was the deputy squadron commander of the 177th Air Defense Fighter Aviation Regiment. Talalikhin took part in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which he managed to destroy four enemy aircraft. After the war, he went to serve in an aviation school. During the Second World War, in August 1941, he shot down a German bomber, going to ram him, and survived, getting out of the cockpit and parachuting down to the rear of his own.
After that, Viktor Talalikhin managed to destroy five more fascist aircraft. However, already in October 1914, the hero died while participating in another air battle near Podolsk. In 2014, the plane of Viktor Talalikhin was found in the swamps near Moscow.
Andrey Korzun Andrey Korzun
Andrey Korzun was an artilleryman of the 3rd counter-battery artillery corps of the Leningrad Front. Korzun was drafted into the army at the very beginning of the Second World War. His battery came under heavy enemy fire on November 5, 1943. In this battle, Andrei Korzun was seriously wounded. Seeing that the powder charges were set on fire, due to which the ammunition depot could fly into the air, Korzun, experiencing severe pain, crawled towards the burning powder charges. He no longer had the strength to take off his overcoat and cover the fire with it, so he, losing consciousness, covered him with himself. As a result of this feat of Korzun, the explosion did not occur.
Alexander German Alexander German
Alexander German was the commander of the 3rd Leningrad partisan brigade. Alexander served in the army since 1933, and when the Great Patriotic War began, he joined the scouts. Then he began to command a partisan brigade, which managed to destroy several hundred trains and cars, kill thousands of German soldiers and officers. The Germans tried for a long time to reach the partisan detachment of German, and in 1943 they succeeded: in the territory of the Pskov region, the detachment was surrounded, and Alexander German was killed.
Vladislav Khrustitsky Vladislav Khrustitsky
Vladislav Khrustitsky was the commander of the 30th Separate Guards Tank Brigade on the Leningrad Front. Vladislav served in the army from the 1920s, at the end of the 30s he graduated from armored courses, and in the fall of 1942 he began to command the 61st separate light tank brigade. Vladislav Khrustitsky distinguished himself during Operation Iskra, which gave impetus to the future defeat of the Nazis on the Leningrad front.
In 1944, the Germans were already retreating from Leningrad, but the tank brigade of Vladislav Khrustitsky fell into a trap near Volosovo. Despite fierce fire from the enemy, Khrustitsky radioed the order "Stand to the death!", After which he was the first to go forward. In this battle, Vladislav Khrustitsky died, and the village of Volosovo was liberated from the Nazis.
Yefim Osipenko Yefim Osipenko
Yefim Osipenko was the commander of a partisan detachment that he organized with several of his comrades immediately after the seizure of his land by the Germans. Osipenko's detachment committed anti-fascist sabotage. During one of these diversions, Osipenko had to throw an explosive made from a grenade under a German train, which he did. However, there was no explosion. Without hesitation, Osipenko found a railway sign, and hit a grenade with a stick attached to it. It exploded, the train with food and tanks for the Germans went downhill. The hero survived, but lost his sight. For this operation, Yefim Osipenko received the medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", this was the first award of such a medal.
Matvey Kuzmin Matvey Kuzmin
Matvey Kuzmin became the oldest participant in the Second World War, who received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but, alas, posthumously. He was 83 years old when the Germans took him prisoner and demanded to lead them through the forest and swamps. Matvey sent his grandson ahead to warn the partisan detachment that was next to them about the approaching Germans. thus the Germans were ambushed and defeated. During the battle, Matvey Kuzmin was killed by a German officer.
Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose exploits are sometimes in the shadows ... Ekaterina Zelenko If everyone knows the feat of Talalikhin, then the name of the first woman who committed ...
Today we want to remember 5 heroes of the Great Patriotic War, whose exploits are sometimes in the shadows...
Ekaterina Zelenko
If everyone knows the feat of Talalikhin, then few know the name of the first woman who committed an aerial ramming. On September 12, 1941, Zelenko, on her Su-2 light bomber, entered into battle with the German Messers, and when her car ran out of ammunition, she destroyed an enemy fighter precisely in an air ram. In that battle, the heroine did not manage to survive.
Zelenko's husband, military pilot Pavel Ignatenko, also died in the battles of the Great Patriotic War in 1943.
Dmitry Komarov
Selfless ramming tactics are unique in modern warfare - all the more surprising when one relatively small tank goes to ram an entire armored train! The only documented case of such a feat is the story of Lieutenant Dmitry Komarov, who on June 25, 1944, at full speed on a burning "thirty-four" rammed a German train near Chernye Brody in western Ukraine.
By some miracle, the hero in that battle survived, although almost all members of his crew died. Nevertheless, Dmitry Evlampievich, as the people say, “hurried to God”: he died heroically in the battles for Poland in the autumn of the same 1944.
Ivan Fedorov
This Hero of the Soviet Union has one of the most mysterious biographies. Undoubtedly possessing remarkable skills in air combat and having shot down more than a dozen German aircraft, Ivan Evgrafovich, however, earned himself not very corresponding to his rank.
Hero of the reputation of "Baron Munchausen" of the domestic Air Force. Being the commander of one of the aviation penal battalions, he often later boasted of greatly exaggerated or simply false "exploits".
The most ridiculous was the case when he began to tell the cadets of the Kachinsky School that he allegedly participated in the operation to rescue the crew of the Chelyuskin steamer. When it became known about Fedorov's misconduct, he only miraculously escaped the tribunal and for a long time later went under suspicion, so he received the Golden Star of the Hero relatively late.
Nikolai Sirotinin
His biography is little known and unremarkable: a simple guy from Orel, he was drafted into the army in 1940. But it is Nikolai Sirotin who, with his incredible feat, confirms the statement "And there is only one warrior in the field, if he is tailored in Russian."
On July 17, 1941, Sirotinin, together with his battalion commander, covering our retreating units, took an unequal battle with the Germans at the bridge over the Dobrost river in Belarus. The battalion commander, having been wounded, retreated, and Nikolai Sirotinin remained in the firing position, from where he only stepped straight into history.
In that battle, he single-handedly destroyed 11 tanks, 6 armored personnel carriers and 57 soldiers of the enemy army, and when the shells ran out and the Germans offered to surrender, he answered them only with fire from his carbine. When it was all over, the Nazis buried the twenty-year-old Red Army soldier - with military honors, paying tribute to his heroism.
Nevertheless, the Motherland noted the feat of Sirotinin only with the Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree, and then only in 1960.
Epistinia Stepanova
How to measure heroism? How to determine who can be considered a hero and who is not? Probably the most worthy of all who could bear this proud title is she, a simple Russian woman who gave birth to 15 children - Epistinia Stepanova.
She gave the Motherland the most precious - nine sons, seven of whom never returned home from the Great Patriotic War, and two more died in the Civil War and Khalkhin Gol. The authorities awarded her the title of "Mother Heroine" and, after her death in 1974, buried her with full military honors.
Imagine that you are trying to save a blind man from a burning building, making your way step by step through burning flames and smoke. Now imagine that you are also blind. Jim Sherman, blind from birth, heard his 85-year-old neighbor's cries for help when she was trapped in her burning house. He found his way along the fence. Once he got to the woman's house, he somehow managed to sneak in and find his neighbor, Annie Smith, also blind. Sherman pulled Smith out of the fire and took him to safety.
Skydiving instructors sacrificed everything to save their students
Few people will survive a fall from several hundred meters. But two women made it through the dedication of two men. The first gave his life to save the man he saw for the first time in his life.
Skydiving instructor Robert Cook and his student Kimberley Dear were about to make their first jump when the plane's engine failed. Cook told the girl to sit on his lap and tied their straps together. As the plane crashed to the ground, Cooke's body took the brunt, killing the man and leaving Kimberly alive.
Another skydiving instructor, Dave Hartstock, also saved his student from being hit. It was Shirley Dygert's first jump and she jumped with an instructor. Digert's parachute did not open. During the fall, Hartstock managed to get under the girl, softening the blow to the ground. Dave Hartstock injured his spine, the injury paralyzed his body from the very neck, but both survived.
A mere mortal Joe Rollino (Joe Rollino, pictured above) during his 104-year life has done incredible, inhuman things. Although he weighed only about 68 kg, in his prime he could lift 288 kg with his fingers and 1450 kg with his back, for which he won various competitions several times. However, not the title of "Most strong man in the world" made him a hero.
During World War II, Rollino served in the Pacific and received a bronze and silver star for gallantry in the line of duty, as well as three purple hearts for battle wounds, for which he spent a total of 2 years in the hospital. He took 4 of his comrades from the battlefield, two in each hand, while also returning to the heat of battle for the rest.
A father's love can inspire superhuman feats, as two fathers in different parts of the world have proven.
In Florida, Joesph Welch came to the rescue of his six-year-old son when an alligator grabbed the boy's arm. Forgetting his own safety, Welch hit the alligator in an attempt to force it to open its mouth. Then a passer-by arrived and began to beat the alligator in the stomach until the beast finally let go of the boy.
In Mutoko, Zimbabwe, another father saved his son from a crocodile when it attacked him in a river. Father Tafadzwa Kacher started poking the cane into the animal's eyes and mouth until his son ran away. Then the crocodile took aim at the man. Tafadzwa had to gouge out the animal's eyes. As a result of the attack, the boy lost his leg, but he will be able to tell about the superhuman courage of his father.
Two ordinary women lifted cars to save loved ones
Not only men are capable of displaying superhuman abilities in critical situations. The daughter and mother showed that women can be heroes too, especially when a loved one is in danger.
In Virginia, a 22-year-old saved her father when a jack slipped from under the BMW he was working under and the car fell on the man's chest. There was no time to wait for help, the young woman lifted the car and moved it, then gave her father CPR.
In Georgia, the jack also slipped and a 1,350-kilogram Chevrolet Impala fell on a young man. Alone, his mother Angela Cavallo lifted the car and held it for five minutes until her son was pulled out by neighbors.
Superhuman abilities are not only strength and courage, it is also the ability to think and act quickly in an emergency.
In New Mexico, a school bus driver suffered a seizure, putting children in danger. The girl waiting for the bus noticed that something had happened to the driver and called her mother. The woman, Rhonda Carlsen, took immediate action. She ran next to the bus and gestured to one of the children to open the door. After that, she jumped inside, grabbed the steering wheel and stopped the bus. Thanks to her quick reaction, none of the students were hurt, not to mention the people passing by.
A truck with a trailer was driving along the edge of a cliff in the dead of night. The cab of a large truck stopped right above the cliff, the driver was in it. A young man came to the rescue, he broke the window and pulled the man out with his bare hands.
This happened in New Zealand in the Wayoka Gorge on October 5, 2008. The hero was 18-year-old Peter Hanne, who was at home when he heard the roar. Without thinking about his own safety, he climbed onto the balancing car, jumped into a narrow gap between the cab and the trailer, and broke the rear window. He carefully helped the injured driver out while the truck staggered under his feet.
In 2011, Hanne was awarded the New Zealand Bravery Medal for this heroic act.
The war is full of heroes who risk their lives to save fellow soldiers. In the movie Forrest Gump, we saw how a fictional character saved several of his co-workers, even after he was wounded. In real life, you can meet the plot and abruptly.
Here, for example, is the story of Robert Ingram, who received the Medal of Honor. In 1966, during the siege by the enemy, Ingram continued to fight and save his comrades even after he was wounded three times: in the head (as a result, he partially lost his sight and became deaf in one ear), in the arm and in the left knee. Despite being wounded, he continued to kill the North Vietnamese soldiers who attacked his unit.
Aquaman is nothing compared to Shavarsh Karapetyan, who rescued 20 people from a sinking bus in 1976.
The Armenian speed swimming champion was jogging with his brother when a bus with 92 passengers ran off the road and fell into the water 24 meters from the shore. Karapetyan dived, kicked out the window with his feet and began to pull out people who were by that time in cold water at a depth of 10 m. It is said that for each person he saved, it took 30 seconds, he saved one after another until he lost consciousness in cold and dark water. As a result, 20 people survived.
But the exploits of Karapetyan did not end there. Eight years later, he rescued several people from a burning building, suffering severe burns in the process. Karapetyan received the Order of the Badge of Honor of the USSR and several other awards for underwater rescue. But he himself claimed that he was not a hero at all, he just did what he had to.
A man lifted a helicopter to save his colleague
The TV show site was turned into a tragedy when a helicopter from the hit series Magnum P.I. crashed into a drainage ditch in 1988.
During landing, the helicopter suddenly banked, went out of control and fell to the ground, while everything was filmed. One of the pilots Steve Kaks (Steve Kux) was trapped under a helicopter in shallow water. And then Warren "Tiny" Everal (Warren "Tiny" Everal) ran up and lifted the helicopter from Cax. It was a Hughes 500D which weighs at least 703 kg empty. Everal's quick reaction and his superhuman strength saved Cax from a helicopter pinning him in the water. Despite the fact that the pilot injured his left hand, he escaped death thanks to a local Hawaiian hero.
