Nazarov Sergey Makarovich Minister contact number. Biography

08:32 31.01.2015

The famous pilot became famous during the Great Patriotic War - he miraculously survived in German captivity, stormed Berlin and was introduced to Stalin's son. But he received the title of Hero for the Korean War. The “living legend” Sergei Kramarenko is now 91 years old.

On March 19, 1944, the La-7 plane, flown by Sergei Kramarenko, shook violently. The pilot felt a sharp pain in his left leg, and a second later the flames from the engine compartment spread into the cockpit and burned his face. Sergei somehow miraculously managed to open the window and jump out.
6 days in captivity: painkilling injections, typhus and two “executions”
Pilot Kramarenko woke up on the ground when the Germans were already searching him. They took him by car to headquarters for interrogation, after first providing first aid - they bandaged the wounds on his legs. “At first they mistook me for a tanker - I was so burned, the way tankers usually got burned. And it was impossible to understand what uniform I was wearing. I told the Germans that I was a pilot. Immediately the sentence came - shoot! I was taken to the same car, but, fortunately for me, it did not want to start. While the driver was trying to fix it, some authorities arrived at the headquarters. An officer in “silver” uniform, apparently a general, approached me. He asked: “Who are you?” I said again that I am a pilot. He thought for a moment and ordered me to be taken to the hospital,” recalls Great Patriotic War veteran Sergei Makarovich Kramarenko. The wounded pilot was placed in a cart in which a German ace, shot down in the same air battle, was already lying. The cart, guarded by two Germans, moved towards the field hospital. “We drove for a long time, the driver kept saying: “Tsob-tsobe!” I asked him: “Khokhol, or what? Why are you fighting against your brothers?” And he jumped off the cart, grabbed the gun and yelled: “Right now I’ll shoot you, you Muscovite, I’ll shoot you myself!” The Germans saved me - they took his rifle away, because they had an order to take me to the hospital, and they observed military discipline,” says Kramarenko.
The downed pilot was taken to a prisoner of war camp. At the hospital they undressed him and laid him on a table. The doctors were ours, from among the prisoners.
“The first thing they did was to smear some red liquid on their burnt hands. The pain is unbearable! Then they started to lubricate their face. I tell them: “Guys, I’m going to scream now!” Then they gave me a painkiller injection, and I woke up in my bed. A neighbor asks me: “Who are you, a tank driver?” I say: “I am a pilot,” and he says: “And I am a bomber navigator.” So they lay there together. They smeared me several times a day, but they injected me with painkillers all the time. They fed us porridge, but also gave us semolina porridge,” says the former pilot.
On the seventh day of his captivity, Kramarenko heard the sounds of battle, and through the window he saw the Germans setting fire to barracks with prisoners of war. But for some reason the barracks he was in were not set on fire. At 12 o'clock in the afternoon, Soviet soldiers opened its doors, and, having learned who was in front of them, they poured first one mug of schnapps, then a second.
“Maresyev’s feat” and flight in a bomb bay
Sergei Kramarenko spent several months in the hospital. The leg wounds and burns were severe. It's time to undergo a medical examination. The wound on his left leg had not yet fully healed, and Kramarenko used a cane. But he appeared before the doctors, of course, without her.
“Remember the film about the pilot Maresyev, who had both legs amputated, and he began to dance before the medical examination? That’s how I did it, only I didn’t dance, but began to squat. As I remember now, I did 15 squats. This alone convinced the doctors that I was fit for military service without restrictions,” says the veteran.
But Kramarenko was not happy for long. The military authorities sent him not to the 19th air regiment, in which he served, but to a completely different one. The pilot returned to the hotel in upset feelings. His neighbors came into the room and asked what was the matter, he explained that he was being sent to Ukraine, and his regiment was in Belarus. It turned out that the neighbors were flying right there, and they promised to take their colleague with them.
“The next day we arrive at the airfield in Tushino. There were no empty seats on the bomber, and I was offered to fly in the bomb bay. I, of course, agreed. They tied me to the bomb rack so that I wouldn't accidentally fall out if the hatch suddenly opened. But I didn't think it would be so cold. The flight took about 2.5 hours, all this time I was rubbing my hands and face with all my strength so as not to freeze. So it flew like a “bomb,” recalls Sergei Kramarenko. At the military airfield, Kramarenko met his comrade in arms, Konstantin Dashin, who undertook to deliver him to his native regiment.
“Kostya told me that while I was lying in the hospital, the regiment was renamed from the 19th to the 176th Guards, because by that time our pilots had already shot down 200 German planes. By the way, at the same time, Kozhedub, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, was enrolled in my regiment,” says the famous pilot.
Sergei Kramarenko was not taken into the 176th Guards Aviation Regiment right away. Although not long, captivity by the Germans was considered a “black spot” in the biography. But they took into account his former merits, believed him, and hired him. Kramarenko’s last air battle in the Great Patriotic War took place on April 20, 1945 in the skies over Berlin. “There were 24 Focke-Wulfs against us in this battle. We shot down five of them, and they turned around and left. German air aces, it must be said frankly, fought with us only until 1943. And then there were inexperienced, young pilots, straight from college, apparently. They were not our rivals,” says the military pilot.
During his participation in the Great Patriotic War, Sergei Makarovich Kramarenko made 66 combat missions and participated in 26 air battles, in which he personally shot down 2 enemy aircraft and 1 German reconnaissance airship.
Kramarenko’s “Black Spot”: how Stalin decided the pilot’s fate
After the war, Sergei Kramarenko was transferred to the Moscow Military District. In 1948, he was once again excluded from the group of the best pilots of his regiment, who were supposed to take part in the air parade over Red Square and the airfield in Tushino. SMERSH identifies two more former prisoners of war in the regiment - Viktor Sharapov and Viktor Petrov. Flight commander Petrov was immediately sent to serve in the Far East.
The commander of the 29th Air Regiment, Hero of the Soviet Union, Alexander Kumanichkin, a permanent leader paired with his wingman Kramarenko, takes the stand for his comrades. Kumanichkin manages to arrange an audience with the commander of the district air force, aviation major general Vasily Stalin.
“Vasily Stalin asked me about captivity, I told him everything that happened. Kumanichkin said that he could vouch for me. General Stalin looked at me appraisingly and said: “Okay, I’ll figure it out.” But he didn’t believe Sharapov. It turned out that Sharapov was in a Baltic concentration camp with Stalin's brother. Vitya Sharapov made an ulcer on his leg with lime so as not to go to work. Stalin tells him: “You were lucky, but my brother Yakov was killed in this concentration camp... But you and the doctor could have been shot for your simulation. Tell me, who treated you in the infirmary? What is this doctor's last name? Victor couldn't answer. “Don't remember? You must remember him all your life: he risked his life to save you from execution for simulation,” Stalin was indignant. And then he said that he didn’t believe Sharapov and wouldn’t leave him in the area,” says the war veteran.
As Sergei Makarovich says, the pilots loved Vasily Stalin - despite the fact that he was the son of a leader, he fought honestly in the war, ensured that comfortable Finnish houses were built for all pilots in the Moscow Military District, where they were moved from barracks and dormitories . The fate of Sergei Kramarenko, who was in German captivity, was finally decided at a party conference in Kubinka near Moscow. The comrades chose a former prisoner of war as their delegate. Vasily Stalin recognized the pilot in the foyer.
“What is Kramarenko doing here?” Stalin asks Kumanichkin. He answered: “The pilots of our regiment respect him, so they elected him as a delegate.” “Well, since pilots are respected, then I will respect them too. Let him fly in the parade, and make him a flight commander!” - said Vasily Stalin,” the 93-year-old veteran now recalls.
But the life of pilot Kramarenko after that more than once presented surprises. Sergei Makarovich managed to take part in 3 more wars before retiring in 1980. Hero's Star "for Korea", "football" in Iraq and Algeria
Just two years after significant meetings with the son of Joseph Stalin himself, Sergei Kramarenko was sent on a long business trip. He was hastily forced to sell the newly purchased Pobeda and go to China.
“In 1950, we started learning Korean. The fact is that Kim Il Sung turned to the Soviet Union for military assistance. So Stalin sent his “falcons” to hunt American bombers and fighters. But we weren't officially there. We were even given Korean names for radio communications during air combat. My name was "Bai-Da". We then flew on the most modern jet aircraft, the Yak-15, and then the MiG-15,” says Sergei Kramarenko.
The commander of the group, which was formalized as the 324th Fighter Aviation Division, was appointed a brilliant pilot, an outstanding ace of World War II, three times Hero of the Soviet Union, Colonel Ivan Kozhedub. The planes were dismantled almost down to the screw and loaded onto railway platforms. The pilots themselves went to “say goodbye” to Moscow. “We walked along Red Square and admired the Kremlin towers. Then we went to some restaurant, from where I led my comrades away with great difficulty - in order to have time, if not sleep, then at least in time to board the carriages! I don’t know about the other guys, but I slept peacefully at night - I got used to constant moving during the war,” says the military pilot.
On the border with Korea, Soviet pilots were dressed in Chinese military uniforms: blue cotton trousers and a khaki jacket, chrome boots, a mustard-colored cloth overcoat and a light brown earflap hat with a visor. On the pocket of the jacket there are hieroglyphs - “Chinese People's Liberation Army”.
“In the dining room they tried to feed us “Russian dishes” - pasta soup, sometimes cabbage soup. For the second course there is the same pasta, sometimes potatoes with meat or fish. Very often - scrambled eggs, and sometimes a specific Chinese dish - sea cucumbers, which we immediately nicknamed “sea cucumbers,” the veteran recalls.
The first air battle between Soviet and American aircraft took place on November 1, 1950. Four MiG-15s and three American Mustangs met in the skies of North Korea. As a result of the battle, 2 Mustangs were shot down, we had no losses.
The very first battles in the air showed that the American F-80 Shooting Star and F-84 Thunderjet jets were significantly inferior to the Soviet MiG-15 in speed, climb rate and especially in armament, as a result of which air battles ended in their defeat and flight . The dominance of American aviation in Korean skies is over.
“We, of course, really wanted to write home about all this, but we couldn’t, we didn’t have the right. We had to "encrypt" everything. So, for example, we wrote about air battles: “we were playing football,” about a downed plane: “I scored a goal against the enemy,” the pilot recalls.
The losses of the American Air Force in air battles with the MiG-15 forced the US Air Force command to urgently send its newest F-86 Saber fighters to the Korean Peninsula at the beginning of 1951.
In terms of its flight-tactical characteristics, this fighter was approximately equal to the MiG-15: inferior in rate of climb and specific thrust, it was superior to it in better maneuverability, longer flight range and in gaining speed during a dive. But the MiG-15 had a significant advantage in armament. Its three guns: two 23 mm caliber and one 37 mm caliber with an aiming range of 800 meters - significantly exceeded the Saber's armament: 6 12.7 mm machine guns with a firing range of 400 meters.
“We learned to fight the Sabers as we went along. The task was not easy, especially since we were strictly forbidden to fly over water, but this was happening on the Korean Peninsula - how could we not fly over water? But an order is an order, and sometimes the execution of this order made it very difficult and constrained our actions, but we still won,” says Sergei Kramarenko. In one of the battles, Sergei Makarovich “forgave” the Australian pilot. The Gloucester Meteor, according to the veteran, was clearly flown by a young, inexperienced pilot. And the Soviet pilot decided not to shoot him down. Kramarenko himself experienced a completely different attitude when his plane was shot down by the enemy, and the Soviet pilot had to eject.
“When I was descending by parachute, twice an American, making passes in his fighter, tried to shoot me with heavy machine guns, but I was lucky - not a single scratch,” recalls the pilot. Photo: USAF - Harry S. Truman Library
On Kramarenko’s land, luck was also on his side then. There were many cases when downed Soviet pilots unsuccessfully proved to the Chinese or Korean soldiers who picked them up that they were Soviet and not American pilots. After all, they did not have any documents proving this, and they were dressed in the uniform of the Chinese People's Army. Such situations sometimes ended tragically. Kramarenko was “detained” by North Korean peasants, although not without explanation. “I tell them: “Kim Il Sung - ho!” - that is, “good.” Then he pointed his finger at himself: “Stalin - ho!” Sergei Kramarenko talks about his salvation.
During ten months of participation in hostilities in Korea, the pilots of the division under the command of Colonel I.N. Kozhedub shot down 215 enemy aircraft, losing their 10 pilots and 23 aircraft. Kramarenko believes that the main thing in these events is that our pilots caused significant damage to US strategic aviation, thereby saving millions of Korean civilians.
For his courage, Major Kramarenko was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. After returning from Korea, he entered the Air Force Academy, and after graduating, he continued to serve in different places around the country. He went from deputy commander of a fighter aviation regiment to deputy commander of a separate air defense army and deputy chief of staff of the 23rd Air Army. As an experienced specialist, he was sent to teach flight safety to pilots in 1970-71. to Iraq, and from 1973 to 1975 Sergei Kramarenko served in Algeria.
91-year-old Hero of the Soviet Union Sergei Kramarenko today recalls this time with a smile: “Well, from there, too, along the beaten path, they wrote to their homeland about football... Only they didn’t write about the goals scored. They were “killed” not by us, but by Iraqi and Algerian “football players”.

- Sergei Makarovich, tell us where you were and what you were doing when you heard that the war had started?

I was a cadet at the Borisoglebsk military pilot school. On Sunday, June 22, it was very hot, and the guys and I were going to go for a swim. But suddenly we heard a command to gather in the headquarters building of our squadron to announce an important message. We gathered at the appointed hour and began to listen to Molotov’s speech about what had begun.

We couldn't believe that Germany wanted to attack our huge Motherland.

We could not believe that Germany wanted to attack our great Motherland, but we were wrong. Our army was very poorly prepared for war. Active units had to be periodically replenished with untrained pilots.

In 1942, our training airfield was bombed for the first time. The panic of the cadets knew no bounds. Instead of hiding in bomb shelters, the cadets rushed to the planes. Under the explosions of guns, we somehow reached the planes and began to pull them away in different directions. The airfield was brightly lit: glowing bombs above, and to the side the burning chicken coops of a poultry farm. The only thing that saved us was that the Germans, seeing the burning buildings and scurrying chickens, thought that they had bombed military barracks or warehouses.

After this, preparations began for our school for evacuation to the east. Unexpectedly, an order was given that the eight cadets who managed to fly on LaGG-3 were sent to a reserve air regiment in Arzamas. I was also included in this eight, although my comrades and I were very surprised by this. After all, we haven’t had time to complete the flight program, we can barely stay in the air, and we are already considered full-fledged pilots. Of course, we were glad that we would soon be at the front and defend our Motherland. We were not happy for long, because the squadron commander found out that one of us had only one flight and 10 minutes of flying time. They decided to send our friend back to school to finish his studies.

Since I also only had 2 flights, I decided to lie and said that I had not two, but twenty flights and two hours of flight time. Thank God, my comrades did not betray me, and the commander left me to master flying on the LaGG in the reserve regiment, preparing to soon join the active army.

- Was it difficult for you to study without the experience you mentioned?

Not hard: I flew well, as it seemed to me then. We were assigned to the 1st Air Army of the Western Front. I didn’t have a single training air combat, not a single shooting at targets, so I had to finish my studies at the front. Of course, now I understand why out of eight people I was the only one left alive. They simply didn’t have time to teach us how to fight.

I made my first real combat mission at the end of January 1943. When the Germans began to remove units from our front to liberate Paulus’s district army, our command decided to launch an offensive in the Zhizdra area, southwest of Sukhinichi. They wanted to disrupt the transfer of enemy units to Stalingrad. My regiment covered the advancing troops from air strikes. German planes appeared and disappeared. I remember this flight because I understood almost nothing!

- What moment in the war was the most important and dangerous for you?

We were fighting a group of Junkers and Messerschmitts who were storming our positions below. When a German plane attacked, I felt a blow: it turned out that one of the enemy’s shells had exploded and broken the gasoline pipes of my car. The plane immediately burst into flames, and fire rushed into my cabin. My hands and face were on fire. Having somehow unfastened the straps, I found myself in the air and pulled the parachute ring. It managed to open, and I felt severe pain and lost consciousness.

I realized that I had fallen right near the SS headquarters

I woke up to someone undressing me. I looked up and saw soldiers in green uniforms with skulls and crossbones in their buttonholes. Then I realized that I had fallen right near the SS headquarters. I couldn’t get up because my legs were broken and there was a lot of blood flowing from them. They cut off my boots, bandaged my feet and took me to some village.

There, a German officer approached me and began asking me what unit I was from, how many planes we had, who my commander was and where we were. Of course, I refused to give him such information. Then he waved his hand at me and gave the command “ershissen” - shoot. It was as if something broke inside me... That’s it, he flew off!

- How did you manage to survive, why didn’t the Germans shoot you right away?

“Oh, you damned Muscovite, I’ll shoot you!”

He took off his rifle and pointed it at me

A German general who came out of headquarters suddenly canceled the order and ordered me to be sent to the hospital. I was carried into a cart and placed next to a German officer. After some time I hear that the driver is pushing the horse around in an almost native, Ukrainian way. I was very angry when I found out that this was a Bandera man in a German uniform. I couldn’t stand it and shouted: “Why are you, fellow countryman, serving the Germans?” And he: “Oh, you damned Muscovite, I’ll shoot you!” He took off his rifle and pointed it at me. But a German officer stopped him: “Halt! Hospital!" So once again I escaped death.

I was brought to the infirmary, which was located in the Proskurov prisoner of war camp. The captured Soviet orderlies pulled out the shrapnel from my legs and bandaged the wounds, and smeared some reddish liquid on my burnt face. My face began to burn from this liquid, the pain was unbearable, I screamed so that they would not smear me with it anymore. But the guys asked me to be patient, they said that after this German remedy I would not have any scars. Then they gave me an injection and I fell asleep. A few days later, my hands and face were covered with a black crust. My mouth was so tight that even a spoon couldn’t pass. The orderly scooped some porridge onto the handle of a spoon and pushed it into my mouth.

On the 7th day, turmoil began in the camp. Healthy prisoners were driven away from the camp. In the city, the Germans began to blow up houses. The orderlies said that soon a cart would come for us and they would take us away too, and then they would blow up everything here. We are lying down, it is getting dark. We are not being taken away. Just look out the windows: everything is on fire. I think they're going to set us on fire now. We were lucky that on the barracks it was written “Typhus. Do not enter." The Germans abandoned us, did not set fire to us, they hurried. The guards ran away. Since I was very weak, I fell asleep. The next day I was congratulated on my release.

- Tell me, were there any atheists during the war?

It would be easier to fight with God

Unfortunately, very few people believed in God back then, but it seems to me that it would be easier to fight with God. But there were a lot of superstitions among the pilots. For example, no one wanted to fly on Monday. During the war, of course, they flew, but with great caution. We had such a case. One girl who worked in our canteen really liked a pilot named Mikhail. One day she gave him a hairpin. When the young man died, her gift was returned to her. After some time, the girl began to like my other friend, to whom she gave the same hairpin. When he died, they began to avoid the girl.

Since I believed that I wouldn’t survive this war anyway, I tried to fight with all my might in order to somehow help bring my homeland closer, so I practically didn’t think about my death. And today I think more and more often that He saved me so many times.

Certainly! I spent one of these battles led by the famous fighter pilot Ivan Kozhedub. The battle took place in March 1945 over our bridgehead beyond the Oder. Our 12 aircraft went on the attack against 32 Focke-Wulfs, which in total had almost 200 machine guns. I won’t forget Kozhedub’s commands: “There are crosses ahead below. Let's attack! After his words, the battle turned into the destruction of German aircraft. We shot down 16 Fokkers!

My last battle of the war was very unusual for me. In April, near Berlin, my leader Kumanichkin and I encountered six flights of Focke-Wulfs, that is, 24 aircraft. We could not let the German planes through, because our troops were taking Berlin behind us. We attacked German planes for a long time. My shells were used up, and a German plane was flying towards Kumanichkin - I had no choice but to start ramming it. I was flying across the line, and when there were only a few tens of meters left, the German pilot turned around and saw me. He abruptly put the plane into a dive and went down. My happiness knew no bounds! I survived again and proudly flew over the capital of fascism.

K Ramarenko Sergei Makarovich - deputy commander of the 2nd squadron of the 176th Guards Proskurov Red Banner Order of Alexander Nevsky Fighter Aviation Regiment (324th Fighter Aviation Division, 64th Fighter Aviation Corps), guard captain.

Born on April 10, 1923 in the village of Kalinovka, now Romensky district, Sumy region (Ukraine) in a peasant family. Ukrainian. He graduated from the 10th grade of secondary school in the village of Vybor, Pskov region. Since 1940, he studied at the Moscow Aviation Institute named after Sergo Ordzhonikidze and at the Dzerzhinsky Aero Club of Moscow.

In the Red Army since March 1941. In 1942 he graduated from the Borisoglebsk Military Aviation Pilot School. From June 1942 he served in the 1st reserve aviation regiment (Arzamas, Gorky region).

On the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, Sergeant S.M. Kramarenko since August 1942. C Fought with the 523rd Fighter Wing, 303rd Fighter Division. Since July 1943 - in the 19th (renamed 176th Guards) Fighter Aviation Regiment. He fought on the Voronezh, 1st Ukrainian and 1st Belorussian fronts.

He took part in the battles near Kursk, in the Proskurov-Chernivtsi, Vistula-Oder and Berlin offensive operations. In an air battle on March 19, 1944, he was shot down and captured. A month later he was liberated by Soviet troops and returned to his regiment. By the end of the war, he had completed 66 combat missions, conducted 26 air battles, personally shot down 2 enemy aircraft and 10 as part of a group. He also personally destroyed the enemy’s spotter balloon. In 17 assault missions, he destroyed 12 vehicles and damaged 1 locomotive. He was seriously wounded and suffered burns in the burning plane.

After the war, he continued to serve in the USSR Air Force in the same 176th Guards Aviation Regiment, which was transferred to the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. In 1949 he mastered jet fighters. From October 1950 - deputy squadron commander for flight operations. Since December 1950, as part of the regiment, he was on a government mission in Northern China, training Chinese pilots to fly jet fighters.

Participant in the Korean War from April 1951 to February 1952. He made 149 (according to other sources - 104) combat sorties, and personally shot down 13 enemy aircraft in 42 air battles. All victories were won over enemy fighters. He became the fourth Soviet ace of this war.

By Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of October 10, 1951, for the successful completion of command assignments and the courage and bravery shown, guard captain Kramarenko Sergei Makarovich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

Upon returning to the USSR, he continued to serve in the Air Force and entered the academy. In 1955 he graduated from the Air Force Academy. Since 1955 - deputy commander of the 201st Fighter Aviation Regiment of the country's Air Defense Forces (Machulishchi, Minsk Region, Belarusian SSR). Since 1957 - commander of the 167th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment (Tsukulidze, Georgian SSR). Since 1960 - deputy commander for aviation of the 20th Fighter Aviation Division of the country's Air Defense Forces (Novosibirsk), since March 1964 there - deputy commander of the 14th Separate Air Defense Army for combat training.

Since September 1965, for almost 14 years, he has been a senior pilot-inspector of the Flight Safety Service of the USSR Air Force. During his tenure in this position, he was on two long business trips: in 1970-1971 in Iraq - a military adviser to the commander of the Air Force on flight safety, in 1973-1975 in Algeria - a senior officer in the apparatus of the Chief Military Advisor of the USSR.

Since February 1979 - Deputy Chief of Staff of the 23rd Air Army (Chita). Since May 1981, Aviation Major General S.M. Kramarenko has been in reserve. Over 40 years of service, he mastered 22 types of aircraft: from U-2 and I-16 to MiG-15, MiG-17, MiG-21 and Su-9.

Lives in the hero city of Moscow. Conducts active social work. He is deputy chairman of the board of the Club of Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Glory.

Major General of Aviation (1979).

Awarded the Order of Lenin (10/10/1951), 2 Orders of the Red Banner (04/15/1945, 06/2/1951), Order of the Patriotic War 1st degree (03/11/1985), Red Star (12/30/1956), “For Service to the Motherland in the Armed Forces” Forces of the USSR" 3rd degree (02/21/1978), medal "For Military Merit" (05/17/1951), and other medals.

Honorary Professor of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

In the city of Romny, Sumy region (Ukraine), a memorial stand of S.M. Kramarenko was installed on the Alley of Heroes.

Essays:
Against Messers and Sabers. M., 2006.

Fighter pilot Sergei Makarovich Kramarenko, who turned 94 on April 10, went through two wars: from the first to the last day - the Great Patriotic War and the Korean War - from April 1951 to the end of January 1952. For the second, classified one, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, but he was able to tell the details of the events when our aviation opposed American aviation in real combat conditions only decades later...

"Almost died in the first battle"

- When was the last time you took to the skies on a combat aircraft, Sergei Makarovich?

For a long time. In 1977. Forty years ago. I was awarded the rank of major general, appointed deputy commander of the 23rd Air Army, and I began to work. True, they were no longer allowed to take the helm. After all, both age and position... And before that, I was a senior pilot-instructor for the security service of the USSR Air Force and regularly sat in the pilot’s seat. He managed a family of MiGs: 21st, 17th, 15th...

- Do you remember the first flight?

Certainly! I was born in the village of Kalinovka in Ukraine, studied at school in the village of Vybor, Leningrad Region, graduated in 1940 with a gold medal and went to Moscow. I wanted to enter the Aviation Institute, but they beat me to it, all the places for excellent students were already taken, and I applied to the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers. True, I didn’t study there for long. In the fall of 1940, enrollment was announced for flying clubs, which, due to the threat of the impending war, switched to year-round training. I turned to the institute committee of the Komsomol and, having received a direction and a positive description, took the application to the Dzerzhinsky flying club. It was based at the small Kryukovo airfield surrounded by forests near Moscow. We flew on a training U-2. It was a simple and unpretentious aircraft to operate; it forgave even gross mistakes. The cruising speed did not exceed 100-120 kilometers; now people drive twice as fast on the roads.

I graduated and at the end of March 1941 I entered the Borisoglebsk military pilot school. He took the oath on May 1, a holiday. And less than two months later the war began...

Our training on the Po-2 quickly ended, we switched to the I-16 fighter. We were already preparing to be sent to the front when the team came to master the newest LaGG-3. We rarely took to the air; we mostly studied theory. When we got to the combat unit, I lied to the commander that I had completed not two, as in reality, but twenty independent flights. And I have two hours of flight time, not twenty minutes. If I had told the truth, I would have thundered back to the training regiment...

In the first battle he almost died. He missed the start of the attack and fell behind the leader. Two Focke-Wulf-190s fell on me. I had to spin the barrels, dive, and descend almost to the ground so as not to be shot down. I found myself without cover. As a result, he not only escaped from under fire, but also destroyed one Fokker. True, they didn’t count it towards me, they didn’t believe me, and I couldn’t provide evidence. They also scolded me for breaking away from the presenter.

- It’s fortunate that you are still alive.

This is true, no doubt about it. Subsequently, I flew three thousand hours, making about a hundred combat missions in the Great Patriotic War and one and a half hundred in Korea. With my participation, sixteen German planes were shot down, of which I personally was credited with three. Plus thirteen confirmed Americans. He shot down eight more, including two Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bombers, but he did not see the moment of the fall, so they were also not included in the total count.

- Who was easier to fight with - the Germans or the Americans?

Before Korea, we received MiG-15 aircraft, they were armed with one 37mm cannon and two 23mm cannons, and could conduct targeted fire at a distance of 800 meters. American F-86 Saber fighters were equipped with six 12.7 mm machine guns that hit targets at a distance of 400 meters. In this we had an advantage, but the Saber was superior to the MiG in maneuverability, flight range, and speed gain during a dive. Therefore, it is impossible to say with whom it was easier or more difficult. War is war. This is not a country walk.

I was also shot down three times. Twice during the Great Patriotic War and then in Korea.

In February 1943, near Kaluga, we attacked the Focke-Wulf-190 group, but the Germans damaged my La-5 with return fire, and the engine stalled. I managed to reach the front line and began to descend over the dense forest. According to the rules, I had to jump, but I noticed a large clearing ahead and planned there. The plane crawled through the snow about two hundred meters and stopped. Soon our soldiers arrived and helped me get to Sukhinichi, from where I returned to the regiment and continued to participate in flights. The plane was then taken out and sent for repairs.

“So you’re a Muscovite? I’ll finish you off now!”

- And the second time you also managed to return to your own people?

No, on March 19, 1944, everything was much worse. We carried out a mission behind the front line in three vehicles; in the Proskurov area we met nine Junkers-88 bombers, accompanied by six Messerschmitt-110 fighters, and decided to attack. I was covering Pavel Maslyakov’s plane, suddenly there was a sharp blow, severe pain, the cabin was instantly filled with smoke and flames. The shell hit the seat under my feet and broke the fuel supply pipe. Mechanically, I pulled the emergency release lever of the flashlight, the flames engulfed my hands and face. I tried to get out, but couldn't. I unfastened my seat belts, sharply pushed the stick forward, the plane went down, and I fell out. I lost consciousness from the jerk when the parachute opened. I came to my senses near the ground and wanted to regroup, but didn’t have time. I passed out again from a strong blow.

I woke up when I felt that the belt with the gun was being removed. He opened his eyes and saw people in unfamiliar uniforms with a skull and crossbones in their buttonholes. Germans! Captivity! I tried to get up, but collapsed from wild pain: blood was gushing from my legs, broken by shrapnel. They cut my boots, somehow bandaged my wounds, threw me into a car that arrived and drove me under guard to the nearest village.

An officer came out of the headquarters with a translator. The interrogation began: “Which unit? Where is the airfield? How many planes?” I said I wouldn't answer. The German waved his hand: take him to the outskirts and shoot him. "Erschieen..." I knew this word. Fortunately, the car did not start, the driver rushed to do some magic with the engine. A group of officers appeared from the house. The elder asked, pointing his finger in my direction: “Tanker?” I'm all burnt. They explain to him: the pilot has been ordered to shoot. The commander shook his head: no, to the hospital.

- Lucky...

It was not possible to start the engine of the car; I was transferred to a cart in which a wounded German captain lay. He looked in my direction and remained silent. The horses were controlled by a local policeman, a Ukrainian. When we left the village, I told him: “Countryman, let go, be a man.” He even jumped: “So you’re a Muscovite? I’ll finish you now, you enemy! Say goodbye to your life!” And he reached for the rifle. The German stopped the lynching by shouting at the policeman. I lost consciousness again. It shook violently on the broken road.

They unloaded me in a prisoner of war camp on the outskirts of Proskurov. Now this is the city of Khmelnitsky. Unless, of course, the new Kyiv authorities renamed it again...

I immediately found myself on the surgical table. Homemade, of course. Our Soviet doctors operated with improvised means. Also from among the prisoners. They pulled out the fragments from my legs, though not all of them, but what they could, the small ones are still sitting in me. Burns on the face and hands were treated with a special German ointment. It was incredibly painful, I gritted my teeth, trying to restrain myself and not scream. They told me: “Be patient. But there won’t be any scars left.” Indeed, it healed almost without traces...

I was dragged into a barracks with two-tier bunks. The same wounded officers and soldiers lay there. My neighbor turned out to be a navigator from a Pe-2 dive bomber with a bullet hole in his stomach.

A week later, the offensive of our troops began; units of the 1st Guards Army under the command of Colonel General Grechko broke through to the city. The Germans began to fuss, preparing to retreat. The prisoners of war who could walk on their own were driven to the west, and they decided to destroy the hospital with the wounded. We lay and watched helplessly as the Sonderkommando burned the barracks with a flamethrower, getting closer and closer... We would have died, no doubt, but the artillery struck, shells began to explode in the camp, and the Germans fled without finishing the job. Maybe they decided that the fire would spread to our barracks. Or what saved me was the sign on the door: “Typhus! Do not enter.” Unable to wait for the end, I fell asleep, and in the morning, opening my eyes, I realized that I was alive. A fighter bent over me. For some reason, in a sailor's uniform. Maybe a sailor of the Dnieper flotilla?

I remember he laughed: “Happy second birth! You will live long.” Then we learned that the Germans shot prisoners of war from our camp on the banks of the Southern Bug, unable to transport them across the river.

“You can’t fly after such wounds”

- Fate!

A day later I was taken to a field hospital. There, on a real surgical table, the bandages on the legs were cut, and under them were dozens, hundreds of lice! Luckily I didn't get gangrene. But I was not protected from typhoid fever. I spent two weeks in delirium, had continuous nightmares, an endless air battle from which I could not get out. He even spent his birthday in an unconscious state.

At the beginning of May, he began to get out of bed, carefully walk on crutches, then he grew bolder and crawled out into the street. It turned out that the hospital was located on the edge of the airfield. Having looked closely, I could make out the familiar silhouettes of the “shopkeepers” from a distance. Somehow I hobbled closer and... I couldn’t believe my eyes: standing by the plane were the pilots of my squadron - Sasha Vasko and Vitka Aleksandruk. They didn’t recognize me, zero attention.

He rushed to them: “Guys, it’s me, Kramarenko!” They look doubtful. The face has not yet healed, instead of an officer’s uniform there is a hospital gown, it’s hard to admit. Finally, Vitka, nicknamed Shmaga, hesitantly says: “Look, it’s really him! And we decided that you, Seryoga, died, burned...”

After that March battle, Pavel Maslyakov reported that he saw my plane set on fire and it crashed. No one noticed the parachute... The funeral went home, and friends shared their things.

They helped me get to the squadron headquarters, where he told me in detail the story of capture and rescue. And a day later I flew to Moscow on a specially sent Douglas. Air Force Commander-in-Chief Marshal Novikov, having learned that the pilot who was considered dead had been found, ordered me to be sent for treatment to the Central Aviation Hospital in Sokolniki.

- When did you return to the unit?

In about two months. The medical board was going to suspend him from flying due to broken legs. They say you can’t fly after such injuries. I prudently left my wand outside the door and started doing squats, but I just didn’t dance the hopak before the commission. The head physician laughed and wrote in the conclusion: “Fit without restrictions.”

But they gave me a direction to Lvov, to the headquarters of the 2nd Air Army, and I wanted to return to my 19th Fighter Regiment, which by that time had relocated to Belarus. What to do? At dinner in the officers' mess I got into a conversation with a group of pilots. It turned out that this was the crew of the DB-3F bomber, which was flying to Baranovichi the next day. He began tearfully begging the men to take him on board. The guys were desperate, they thought that they wouldn’t send me further than the front, and they agreed to put me in the bomb bay. There was no other place. They joked that we wouldn’t drop it, but they advised us to tie ourselves to the bomb rack with a belt, just in case. We flew for three hours. Outside, the temperature dropped to minus, and I was in only a tunic. By the end of the flight, I almost turned into an icicle, although I was constantly rubbing my arms, legs, ears, fingers... There was not enough oxygen at altitude, I was afraid of losing consciousness. However, the risky experiment ended successfully.

I took the train to Brest, and there I already found the airfield where my regiment was stationed. He easily could not have found it, since from the 19th he became the 176th Guards. I didn’t lose any more fellow soldiers.

- Hero of the Soviet Union Ivan Kozhedub fought with you three times?

Then our deputy regiment commander had two Gold Star medals. At the end of the war, I flew several times in tandem with “Beard” (this is Kozhedub’s call sign), while his constant wingman Dmitry Titarenko was ill. I also had a chance to fight in a La-7 with tail number 27. In April 1945, Ivan Nikitovich was called to Moscow for two weeks, and I made my last combat missions to Berlin on his “bench.” Now this plane is in the museum of the Air Force Academy in Monino.

“It was forbidden to say that we were going to Korea”

- Your next fight happened in Korea, Sergei Makarovich?

We were supposed to go to the Far East in the summer of 1945, but Japan was defeated without us. As a result, the regiment was unloaded at an airfield near Moscow near the village of Teply Stan. Not far from Profsoyuznaya Street, where I currently live...

At some point I was suspended from flying, remembering German captivity. The matter was personally investigated by Vasily Stalin, the son of the leader and commander of the Air Force of the Moscow Military District. It's an unpleasant feeling, to be honest. Then the suspicions were lifted, and together with other pilots I began to master jet technology: Yak-15, Yak-17... The MiG-15 exceeded my wildest expectations. This plane opened up completely new possibilities for us. We flew to the parade on May 1, 1950 in MiGs. They passed over Red Square at high speed and performed aerobatic maneuvers, causing delight among the spectators.

A month later, the war began on the Korean Peninsula. The Americans quickly destroyed almost all of the DPRK's aviation, the Chinese army came to the rescue, however, the US Air Force practically reigned supreme in the air. At a critical moment, the North Korean government turned to the leadership of the Soviet Union with a request to supply jet fighters and air defense systems, as well as send volunteer pilots and anti-aircraft gunners. Stalin agreed. At first, our instructors taught Chinese and Korean pilots how to fight in the MiG-15, and from November 1 they themselves began to participate in battles with the Americans.

We, of course, learned about this later, and then General Redkin, deputy commander of aviation of the Moscow Military District, came to our unit. He said that in the DPRK cities and villages are burned with napalm, so the duty of the Soviet people is to protect the fraternal Korean people from destruction. The Americans could have dropped atomic bombs on the USSR without meeting resistance. Redkin asked who was ready to volunteer for the Far East. Everyone raised their hands. Of the fifty flight personnel of the regiment, 32 were selected, mainly participants in the Great Patriotic War. I was appointed deputy squadron commander, headed by Colonel Ivan Kozhedub, by that time three times Hero of the Soviet Union, the 324th Fighter Aviation Division.

- How was everything formalized in the official order?

No one showed them to us, no orders. In the officer's book it was written: service under special orders. No explanations, no clarifications. Even relatives were forbidden to talk about China, especially Korea. And it was forbidden to mention any geographical names in letters. Supposedly we serve in the Far East - that's it.

We traveled by train for a little over a week. The planes flew on open platforms under a tarpaulin with pre-disconnected planes. They placed us in the old Japanese barracks near the city of Dongfeng in the northeast of Manchuria, dressed us in the uniform of the Chinese People's Liberation Army with hieroglyphs on the pocket of the jacket. For several months they retrained the Koreans and Chinese to fly the MiG-15. And at the end of March the order came to relocate to the newly built Andong airfield near the Korean border and replace the 29th Guards Regiment, which had fought before us.

- Did the Americans know that they were not fighting the Koreans?

You're not stupid, you should have guessed. Although the USSR never officially recognized that Soviet aviation took part in hostilities, we were categorically forbidden to fly beyond the front line so as not to accidentally be captured. Air battles took place only over the territory of the DPRK; downed Soviet pilots were then picked up and delivered to the airfield by Chinese or Korean soldiers. We did not take ID cards, and we were instructed to speak Korean during the flight; they even prepared special cheat sheets. It took almost two months to memorize the commands. During training flights, things were more or less normal, fortunately, the tablet with tips was on my lap, but during combat operations, when sometimes there were seconds left before death, the Korean literacy instantly disappeared from my head, and the radio exchange was carried out exclusively in Russian. The Americans could not help but hear this.

It must be said that our fifty, albeit excellent MiG-15s, were opposed by three air armies - over two thousand combat aircraft. It is clear that it is extremely difficult to fight against such power. The forces were clearly unequal - one to forty. In addition to the excellent flight-tactical data of the MiGs and the skill of the pilots, we were saved by the fact that the main task of the Americans was to drop bombs, fire missiles at targets in North Korea and return to the airfields alive.

Therefore, our command decided not to camouflage the fighters with protective paint, but, on the contrary, to make them even more noticeable. Made of silver aluminum, coated with colorless varnish, the wings and fuselage of the MiG-15 were visible for tens of kilometers, especially in the bright southern sun. The Americans noticed our planes in a timely manner and went beyond the coastline, where we did not fly.

But the enemy did not switch to such tactics immediately, but after a crushing defeat. On April 12, 1951, we disabled twenty-five strategic B-29 Superfortresses out of forty-eight flying to bomb the bridge over the Yalu River. Four F-84 Thunderjet fighters were also destroyed. It looked like a real massacre. All our MiGs returned safely to base, only a few had holes from machine gun fire. The Americans declared a week of mourning among the troops and did not dare to fly during the day for almost three months. Then the “Superfortresses” began to slowly go out on missions, but diligently avoided meeting us.

And yet we dealt the enemy another painful blow. During the so-called “black week” from October 22 to 27, 1951, we managed to shoot down twenty B-29s. No more "Flying Fortresses" entered the range of MiGs. Korean villages and cities were saved from carpet bombing. We began to contemptuously call the B-29s “flying barns” - they burned so easily and well.

"I was hanging on the slings and waiting for the end"

- It turns out that the game was a one-sided game?

Of course not. We used the strengths of the MiG-15 in the fight against the strategic B-29s, which were poorly prepared for air duels, but fought on equal terms with the F-86 Saber fighters. I was almost shot down on April 2 in the first battle. And then I repeatedly got into serious trouble. One day I couldn’t tear myself away from the pursuit: no matter what I did, the Saber troika was hanging on its tail. I had to expose myself to fire from Korean anti-aircraft gunners guarding the Yalu hydroelectric power station. They were given orders to shoot any aircraft approaching a strategic objective. The explosions of the shells shook so much that it seemed that the wings of the MiG were about to fall off. Fortunately, everything worked out.

At the end of autumn 1951, the Americans sent a batch of modified Sabers with a more powerful engine to Korea, and the fighting became even fiercer. To be honest, we were pretty tired of the endless flights. Our 176th regiment had only sixteen combat-ready crews, and there was no time to rest.

And on January 17, I was shot down... We were attacked by three Saber groups, at some point I felt a sharp blow, and my plane began to spin rapidly. It was pressed to the left side, the rudders did not work. It felt like a wing had flown off! With great difficulty I reached the ejection handle, pulled and... from a sharp blow I lost consciousness for a moment. Having come to his senses, he pulled out the parachute's pilot ring. The canopy opened, I was shaken sharply, and I hung on the slings.

There were 800 meters to the clouds. I looked back and saw an F-86 rapidly approaching. From it stretched smoky strings of tracks from six machine guns... The distance to the Saber remained large, and the bullets, bending, at first passed much lower, but with every split second they came closer to my feet. I remember I even squeezed them - I felt so clearly that in just a moment, and the lead would begin to tear my body to pieces. Suddenly the track disappeared. I looked: the American banked sharply and rushed nearby, about fifty meters away. I even felt sick from the air current he caused. Saber made a U-turn and went on the attack again...

I think he wanted to avenge the death of his leader, whom I had shot down a few minutes earlier. I hung on the parachute and waited for the end, realizing that the second time the pilot was unlikely to miss. There were about a hundred meters left to the saving clouds when Saber started shooting. The new route went far, and I managed to jump into the cloud. It immediately became dark and damp, but the feeling that no one could see me, and I didn’t have to look for that damn fighter, was wonderful!

- The F-86 didn’t pursue you anymore?

There is also mountainous and wooded terrain, the American was afraid to descend too much so as not to get caught on a hill.

When landing, I hit the ground hard, then my spine hurt for several days, and a huge lump grew on the back of my head. But most importantly, he remained alive, his bones were intact!

I turned off the parachute canopy and looked around. It seems quiet. I went down the hill and on the road running along the field, I saw a peasant with a two-wheeled cart drawn by a donkey. The Korean also noticed me, picked up a pitchfork... I had to explain that I was not an enemy. It happened before that peasants beat American pilots who were descending by parachute to a pulp. I started searching for Korean words, trying to say who I was. Maybe I was remembering something wrong or my pronunciation was unimportant, but the Korean clearly didn’t understand me. Then I decided to simplify my task and said: “Kim Il Sung - ho! Stalin - ho!”

- What does "ho" mean?

- "Fine".

To be sure, I gave an encore: “Pyongyang - ho! Moscow - ho!” Here the Korean finally calmed down and nodded his head: “Ho, ho!” He put him in a gig and drove him to the village. There I explained on my fingers that I was shot down in battle, I was a Russian pilot defending their land from the Americans. The Koreans murmured their way, set the table, treated us to some kind of spicy cabbage that made everything burn in our mouths, and poured us some rice vodka. In a word, we were greeted hospitably. In the morning a car arrived from the unit. They put me in the back and drove away. I tried to sit, but my spine ached; after all, the 16-fold overload during the ejection and the impact on the hill made themselves felt. In the battle in which my plane fell, the young pilot Filippov died, and senior lieutenant Voronoi barely made it to the airfield...

Soon a replacement arrived and we returned to the Soviet Union. From April 1, 1951 to January 31, 1952, our 176th Guards Regiment destroyed 107 enemy aircraft, losing twelve MiGs. Five pilots died. It was the hardest in the first and last months of fighting.

"We have been silent about Korea for forty years"

- When were you given the title of Hero?

October 10, 51st. By that time I had shot down ten American planes. Five fighters and the same number of bombers.

- Was the Gold Star awarded there, in Korea?

No, in the Kremlin on April 1, 1952. I was already studying at the Air Force Academy. The decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR did not indicate what exactly the award was for. For my participation in that war, I also received the Order of the Red Banner of Battle, but they were allowed to talk about it only forty years later.

-You never met those you fought against?

Why? At the end of the nineties I was invited to the USA. But first, American pilots who fought in Korea came to Moscow. One day I got a call from the War Veterans Committee and was invited to a meeting with a delegation of pilots from the States. The reception took place at the Petrovsky Travel Palace, where the command of the Zhukovsky Academy was located. At the table, my wife and I found ourselves neighbors with a couple from Texas. Lyamun Livingston said he is a doctor and served as a B-29 pilot in Korea and Vietnam. I replied that I also took part in hostilities in the early 50s, but did not go into details of my biography and did not say exactly how many American planes I shot down.

The next day we went on an excursion to a military airfield together, and before parting we exchanged addresses and telephone numbers, agreeing to maintain contact. Livingston periodically called and invited me to visit him, but every time I refused under a plausible pretext. You won’t explain that you have neither money for the trip nor a great desire to fly halfway around the world to strangers.

Tired of persuading, Livingston said that he would buy tickets for me, my wife and daughter, we just need to get a visa from the embassy. In such a situation, you can no longer answer “no”... As a result, in 2000, we flew to Chicago, and from there to the main city of Texas - Austin. Lyamun met us there and took us to his dacha.

I think Livingston was a scout. Otherwise, where would he have gotten the money for a big house, three cars and a private single-engine plane in which he took us to Las Vegas? In Russia, doctors don’t earn that much...

Toward the end of the three-week trip, I was given a meeting in the city of San Antonio with members of the American Aces Association, those who had shot down more than five enemy aircraft. About forty people came, I made a report. The translator was my daughter Nadezhda, an English teacher at Moscow State University. I briefly spoke about the joint struggle against German fascism and Japanese militarism, after which I spoke about the war in Korea. In the first year, our and American pilots competed in nobility. The battle was fought with those who wanted to fight. The departure of the planes to their airfield meant the end of the duel. Then gentlemanliness began to be violated, Sabers attacked MiGs taking off and landing on Chinese territory, often shooting them down. Ours did not shoot the pilots who ejected, but the Americans did this. However, mutual respect existed and remained.

This is what I tried to emphasize. You understand that my situation was difficult and delicate. After all, there were pilots in the hall with whom I may have fought almost half a century ago...

However, no one asked provocative questions, and we parted amicably. However, I breathed a sigh of relief when I boarded the plane to Moscow.

- Did you like it in America?

They live well, but are boring. They only talk about work and food. They've barely had lunch and are already starting to prepare for dinner.

-You didn’t meet Livingston again?

He died a couple of years after our trip. I got hit by a car on the street. And his wife and daughter flew to visit twice. True, we lived in a hotel, our apartment is not that big...

- Why, by the way, did the Americans call you Casey Jones?

In one of the fights, I shot down their ace Glenn Eagleston, so they gave me the nickname. As I understand it, at the beginning of the last century, Casey was a train driver and died saving passengers. He became a legend, songs have been written about him, there is even a museum.

"They won't take a weakling into account"

-Have you been to the DPRK after the war?

Comrade Kim Il Sung personally invited us three times. The last time was in 1993, shortly before his death.

- Is it true that the Koreans tried to feed you dog meat?

This was still during the war. For the New Year they sent ten cute puppies as a gift. Great delicacy! Like, from our table to yours. Of course, we didn’t eat the dogs; we gave them to the Chinese who were guarding the airfield...

And Kim Il Sung treated us mainly to vegetable and fish dishes. We drank pearl vodka and beer. In 1993, we spent a week relaxing in the Diamond Mountains, bathing in radon baths, after which we felt such a surge of vivacity that we couldn’t fall asleep. They were always received very well, even luxuriously.

True, Kim Jong Il, the son of Kim Il Sung, no longer invited us. He officially announced that the Russians did not participate in the war, the Koreans did everything themselves, and the Chinese helped a little. Well, that's it, that's it. We didn't argue.

The current leader, the grandson of Kim Il Sung, has restored justice. A couple of years ago, a group of eight of our veterans flew to Pyongyang. For health reasons, I stayed at home, but at the DPRK embassy in Moscow I was later awarded the Order of Victory.

However, it's not about the awards. I believe that by our participation in hostilities in the early fifties, we stopped the third world war. Our pilots destroyed US strategic aviation, showing that it is better not to meddle with B-29s on the territory of the USSR: we will shoot them down anyway. And the Americans planned to drop atomic bombs on the Soviet Union...

- They say that a bad peace is better than a good quarrel.

Yes, it's better to get along with everyone. But for this you need to be strong. No one will take a weakling into consideration. Now our army has become noticeably stronger. Especially compared to the nineties. I know this firsthand. My son-in-law is a colonel, both his sons and my grandchildren are officers. Andrey is a paratrooper, senior lieutenant. Sergei serves in the space forces, captain.

The military dynasty continues...

It was after the fight with Glenn Eagleston that the American pilots “rewarded” Sergei Kramarenko with the respectful nickname Casey Jones - in honor of the locomotive driver who, on April 30, 1900, saved passengers at the cost of his life. And he became a legend of the American people - a hero of books, films, folklore...

Sergei Makarovich Kramarenko April 10, 1923 (19230410) Sergei Kramarenko in 1954 Place of birth s. Kalinovka, Sumy region Affiliation ... Wikipedia

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April 10, 1923 (19230410) Sergei Kramarenko in 1954 Place of birth. Kalinovka, Sumy region Affiliation ... Wikipedia

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