Yakov Boev

Everyone has a hero. For someone it is a famous writer, for someone it is a famous person. My hero is my great-grandfather. By the end of his life he was seriously ill, so he spoke to us very rarely. Most of his stories were about the after war period, but my grandparents told me about his war life.

He was a simple private of the USSR army, a driver of the truck, where anti-aircraft gun was placed. Once, when he was driving his truck to the attacking position a bomb had fallen near the truck. The shooter died, but my great-grandfather miraculously survived. That cost him his hearing. When the truck rolled over he damaged his ear, and for the rest of his life he was deaf on this ear. Despite that he continued to serve in the USSR army and even reached Berlin, where he was wounded. He wasn't able to see the Red Flag waving on the Reichstag because he was taken to a Ukrainian hospital. He was there for one month, and he didn't realise that World War II was over. When he learned that he was more than happy. Thanks to his and other soldiers' courage, we can see the world as it is now.

Despite that he was deaf on one ear and seriously ill, he managed to bring up and see his grandchildren and even see his great-grandchildren, what is really not so often even for a healthy man. From him every generation of our family was becoming more successful. When my grandfather was born he and his wife were living in a small village in Russia. When my grandfather was 10 they moved to Dnepropetrovsk, where he worked at a plant. When my grandfather grew up he went to the same plant and became the best worker there. He hardly could feed the family, but he tried harder and harder and he was promoted. Now my father is a businessman. I think, that it all because of education which my great-grandfather managed to give to my grandfather.

My great-grand father was a hero, and I am proud of having such a great-grandfather. I hope he could be proud of me too.