Ivan Lebedev was a Colonel of the Soviet Army, participant of the World War II, Hero of the Soviet Union. He participated in the Victory Parade, carried the standard of the 3rd Ukrainian Front.
Background
Ivan Lebedev was born on August 9, 1916, in the village of Danilovka in the Ust-Medveditsky District of the Don Cossack Region (now a settlement in the Volgograd Region) into a peasant family. During the imperialist war, his father was on the German front, during the Civil War he served in the Red Army. In 1921, the family had to leave their homes because of a terrible famine due to the drought in the Volga region. They sold the property and moved through Voronezh and Poltava. In 1922, Ivan’s father, brother, and sister died. The rest of the family decided to go back home to native Danilovka, where they were sent back to the drawing board. Ivan helped his mother a lot, working hard from early childhood.
Education
Lebedev finished 5 grades of the local school in Danilovka but still managed to enter the Balashov Technical College of Agronomy and Soil Science. In 1950, he graduated from the Military Academy named after Frunze in Minsk.
Career
After graduating from the Balashov Technical College of Agronomy and Soil Science, he worked as an agronomist at the Takhta-Kupyr Machine-Tractor Station in the Karakalpak Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1937-1940, he served in the Workers ‘and Peasants’ Red Army, in the troops of the border guards of the NKVD in Turkmenistan, before graduating from military service he graduated from the courses of junior political reserve officers, and was dismissed on December 30, 1940, with the assignment of the first officer rank of junior political instructor. Then he worked as a district agronomist at Danilovskaya MTS in the Stalingrad region.
On June 23, 1941, Lebedev was drafted into the army, sent to the KUPPS in Buinaksk, and then to Lipetsk, where the 294th Infantry Division was being formed. He was a political officer of the company. Participated in battles near Leningrad, on October 12, 1941, in a battle near the village of Mishkino, near Mga station, was seriously wounded in the head and arm.
He was treated at the hospital No. 1705 in Sverdlovsk, then served in the 65th separate marine rifle brigade, took part in battles at the Maselskaya station, on the Karelian front. In November 1942, he was sent to the courses of deputy commanders of regiments in the city of Gorky. By October 1943, Guard Captain Ivan Lebedev was deputy to the political party of the division commander of the 5th Guards Airborne Artillery Regiment of the 10th Guards Airborne Division of the 37th Army of the Steppe Front.
He distinguished during the battle for the Dnieper. On October 1, 1943, Lebedev crossed the Dnieper in the area of the village Perevolochna (Svetlogorsk Kobelyak district of the Poltava region of the Ukrainian SSR) and took an active part in the battles for the seizure and retention of the bridgehead on his western shore. On October 14, 1943, repulsing an enemy counterattack, he destroyed 3 tanks and a platoon of enemy infantry. According to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 20, 1943 for “exemplary fulfillment of command tasks and demonstrated courage and heroism in battles with German invaders” guard Captain Ivan Lebedev was awarded the high title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal 3161. He participated in the Victory Parade, carried the standard of the 3rd Ukrainian Front. After the war ended, he continued his service in the Soviet Army. In 1950, he graduated from the Military Academy named after Frunze. He served at the headquarters of the Belarusian Military District, was a military commissar of the Grodno Regional Military Commissariat for more than ten years. In 1966, in the rank of colonel, Lebedev was fired into the reserve. He lived in Grodno, before retiring worked in the personnel department of the Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno. He was actively engaged in social activities.
Quotations:
"The Germans were invincible when they fought following the plan. It was at the beginning of the war. But we gradually learned from military experience and military cunning to break the exact plans of the enemy and seized the initiative. And the Germans immediately turned into a confused mass, and we beat and defeated them."
Personality
Ivan Danilovich never lost his courage and optimism. In his philosophy of life, there has always been a place not only for worldly wisdom but also for a sense of humor and irony. He was distinguished by sincere kindness and sensitivity, a heightened desire for justice and order. He loved people and tried to be useful. He loved life and wanted to live a hundred years.
Connections
In 1946, Lebedev married a nurse Anna Nikolayevna. They lived together for 68 years, had 2 sons.
The highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union. The order was awarded to those with meritorious services to the Soviet state and society.
The highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union. The order was awarded to those with meritorious services to the Soviet state and society.
А military medal awarded for "combataction resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military and political training and preparation"
А military medal awarded for "combataction resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military and political training and preparation"