Article about: Seaman 1st Class Vasily Fedorovich Lutsyuk His Red Star 553516 Comrade Lutsiuk has been fighting the German invaders since the very first days of the Patriotic War. To August 1942, Comrade L
Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Ivanovich Andreev, Deputy Battalion Commander for Political Matters, 231st Independent Track-Construction Battalion, 5th Tank Army
Heavily wounded
On 10 April [1941], 1 was heavily wounded in my face. My lower jaw was destroyed, end I lost all reeth in the upper jaw. I was discharged from the hospital on 18 October this year [1942]. Possessing a physical impediment (prosthesis in my mouth) I am no longer able to serve in rifle units as I cannot eat solid food, even bite bread crusts, and each time I eat, I have ro wash my prosthesis to avoid inflammation.
Jr. Sgt. Artyom Semenovitch Ivakhnenko, 385th Rifle Regt., 112 Rifle Div., 13th Army, 27th Rifle Corps, 1st Ukrainian Front
Artyom Ivakhnenko was drafted into the Red Army in late 1943, following the liberation of his native village in Kiev Region.
By July 1944 he had the rank of Junior Sergeant and served as deputy rifle platoon commander in 385th Rifle Regt., 112 Rifle Div., 13th Army, 27th Rifle Corps, 1st Ukrainian Front. On July 6, he assumed duties of his fallen platoon commander, rallied the platoon to attack, and was among the first to break into the enemy trenches. In this engagement Ivakhnenko was seriously wounded (his second wound of the war). On 23 July, he was recommended for an Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd cl. by his regiment commander, and on 10 August 1944 awarded with it by a decree of the 27th Rifle Corps.
After recovering from his wound, Ivakhnenko was reassigned as member of a mortar crew to 227th Rifle Regt., 183rd Rifle Div., 38th Army, 101st Rifle Corps, 4th Ukrainian Front. During the October - November battles in the Beskides (continuation of the Carpathian mountain chain), he was instrumental in eliminating twenty-four German soldiers, two heavy machineguns and four lorries with ammunition. On 10 November 1944, he was awarded with the Medal for Valor.
In January 1945, Ivakhnenko distinguished himself during the fighting in the eastern Czechoslovakia. On 18 January, his mortar crew suppressed two enemy machine-gun emplacements and killed as many as twelve German soldiers. On 21 January, by accurately laying the mortar he suppressed an enemy firing emplacement, and on 25 January, suppressed two heavy machineguns and killed up to eight enemy soldiers. For bravery and skill, on 21 February 1945 Ivakhnenko was awarded with the Order of Glory, 3rd cl.
On 30 April 1945, Ivankhnenko was among the first in his unit to ford the Oder River in its upper stream near Moravska Ostrava. Keeping up with the infantry, he positioned his mortar near the edge of a village, fired at the retreating enemy, and killed ten German soldiers. When the Germans counterattacked on 5 May, Ivakhnenko quickly deployed the mortar. He then ordered the other soldiers of his mortar crew -- by then he had been promoted to the crew commander -- to take positions at the windows of a nearby house with their personal weapons. His rapid fire killed six enemy soldiers and forced the rest to retreat. For this feat, Ivakhnenko was awarded with the Order of Glory, 2nd cl. on 1 June 1945.
Corporal Aleksandr Pavlovich Dikhtyar, Horse Scout Platoon, 1127th Rifle Regiment., 337th Lubyansk Red Banner Order of Suvorov Order of Bogdan Khemelnitsky Rifle Division, 27th Army
In combat since February 1944, Private Dikhtyar earned his first decoration during the following month. On one of his recon raids that March, he with a group of scouts broke into an enemy-held village. In the skirmish Dekhtyar personally killed 6 German soldiers, took 2 prisoners and captured a light machine-gun. On another occasion, Dekhtyar with a scout group raided a village where he eliminated 7 enemy soldiers, captured 4 lorries laden with military supplies, and took 6 prisoners. On March 25, he with a scout group crossed the Bug River and not only reconnoitered the terrain for the future offensive, but also destroyed an enemy machinegun nest.
For these bold actions Dikhtyar was recommended for an Order of Glory, 3rd cl. by the Commander of Reconnaissance, 337th Rifle Div. However, the award was later downgraded to Valor Medal by the division commander.
During the Yassy-Kishinev Operation in August 1944, Dikhtyar's 27th Army was one of the main attack armies of the 2nd Ukrainian Front, puncturing the Rumanian front northwest of Yassy. Throughout the offensive, he showed himself as extremely capable and courageous recon scout. During the early morning hours of August 24, he was the first in his reconnaissance group to cross the Seret River. He reconnoitered a reinforced concrete bridge that had been mined, and, with the help of the other scouts, demined it thus enabling an unimpeded advance for the entire division.
On 26 August, he with a group of mounted scouts penetrated into the rear of the retreating enemy. While on the lead patrol, Dikhtyar noticed a large group of Germans with an armored personnel carrier. After cutting the off the enemy way of retreat, Dikhtyar and the other scouts eliminated part of the group in a short battle and forced several German soldiers to surrender. In this engagement the Germans lost 4 soldiers killed while 8 were taken prisoner, including the entire 4-man crew of the personnel carrier. On 26 October 1944, Dikhtyar was awarded with the Order of Glory, 3rd cl. for his exemplary conduct during the Yassy offensive.
Dekhtyar further distinguished himself during the capture of Budapest and the repelling of the last large scale German offensive of the war at Lake Balaton. During the night of 12-13 February, he with a group of recon scouts clashed with a numerically superior German force trying to escape from Budapest. In a fierce battle that lasted 24 hours, Dikhtyar personally killed 7 enemy soldiers.
In March 1945, while reconnoitering a height near Lake Balaton, he encountered a group of enemy scouts who went behind the Soviet lines. He killed two of them and reported the coordinates of the enemy penetration to his commander. In another episode, Dikhtyar and his recon patrol engaged a group of several German tanks and personnel carriers, holding the exposed flank of his unit until the arrival of reinforcements.
For his outstanding record during the operations in Hungary and Austria, Dikhtyar was recommended for an Order of the Red Star but the award was once again downgraded to Medal for Valor by the decision of the division commander.
It is fair to say that with a bit more luck, Dikhtyar's heroism in action could have easily warranted much higher awards, possibly even a Hero Star. As it happened, this courageous soldier ended the war with the rank of Corporal and with "just" 3 combat decorations including the Glory and two Valor Medals. This is certainly a testimony to the blood and sweat value of these "low ranking" awards.
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