My name is Shevtsov Yuri Vladimirovich. From birth I was not a simple person. Once I was a soldier.
I was born in the hot summer of 1980 in a large border village. My father served as a border guard, my mother worked as a teacher in a village school. I sometimes recall with nostalgia my carefree childhood: dusty roads, flocks of dirty and barefoot rascals like myself, minor household chores. However, I was more correct and luckier than others (perhaps this was a strong family influence). My father, having started serving as a junior lieutenant, quickly advanced in the ranks. However, this was not surprising, given that my grandfather was also a military man and, it must be said, he was lucky. My grandfather went through the entire war and was wounded twice, which ultimately forced him to retire shortly before I was born. He lived in a hut with his father and mother, and worked as a forester. There were no other close relatives - both of my grandfather's brothers died during the Great Patriotic War. The eldest brother was in Sevastopol (although this topic was not popular in family conversations, I knew that my grandfather had gone to look for him twice, but he never found even the approximate place of his death, let alone his name on the mass grave), the middle one was at the Kursk Bulge (he was a T-34 commander, and during the attack the tank came under fire from a "flak"). Grandfather often talked about the war, about different incidents – funny and sad, heroism and cowardice, loyalty and betrayal. Grandfather was a colorful figure. Sometimes something would come over him, and he would go into the forest for two or three days. One story especially stuck in my memory. Remembering it, it was as if I was going back in a time machine. Grandfather was not tall – somewhere around one meter seventy-six in his youth. A round face, as if carved from marble, a hedgehog of gray hair, a piercing look of gray-steel eyes (once they were blue-blue, like the autumn sky - sometimes I think they have faded because of what they have seen), a calm, sometimes sarcastic or cheerful voice.
Evening in the garden, a small fire between two apple trees. Grandfather's voice:
– …we were pinned down by German machine gun fire. The sound of a burst of fire from an MG-42 was like the sound of tearing paper. German 105-millimeter howitzer shells were exploding nearby. One fell about fifteen meters in front of us – and my comrades and I rushed to the crater. I was further away than the others. I saw that I couldn't fit, and as soon as I stopped, another shell fell into the same crater, in the same place. Everyone who was closer was torn to pieces, and I got two shrapnel in the neck… And they say that shells don't fall into the same crater… Anything could happen… And mortar shells would fly into the cracks between the logs. I'll tell you this – the whole war was based on chance, on blind luck. Some, cut up by shrapnel, will survive on the battlefield without medicine or bandages, while others will choke on vodka at headquarters…
I grew up. The Soviet Union fell apart. I still remember how my father sat in front of the reception desk and waited for the order to advance to Moscow. But the order never came. Grandfather was cursing Yeltsin and pacing up and down. Now I fully understand his feelings, but back then I just watched him wonder why they hadn't all been finished off in Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Then I finished school, and since I was an excellent student thanks to my mother, I went to the regional center to enroll in college. I still remember how my slightly sad grandfather, father and mother saw me off at the bus station. I didn't know yet that I would not see my relatives for a very long time.
I entered the institute without any problems, but suddenly realized that the chosen specialty was not for me. Somehow, strangely, I realized that I wanted to serve. And not just serve, but fight. I called my relatives and said that I would join the army. At first, my father scolded me, but then unexpectedly agreed. Now I understand that our family has always been connected with battles.
I must say that I was in excellent health, so I didn't expect any problems in the army.