Immortal Regiment – Voronezh: Pisarev Mikhail Vasilievich

Mikhail Vasilievich Pisarev is a veteran of two wars: the Soviet-Finnish (1939 – 1940) and the Great Patriotic War (1941 – 1945). He has a lot of awards, but the Order of the Red Star, received in April 1945, is most dear to him.

Pisarev Mikhail was a tank driver and went through the entire military journey from the very first days on a tank along with his crew, had three wounds, was repeatedly shell-shocked, but each time he was discharged from the hospital, he returned to the front line again. He told his children and grandchildren a lot about that terrible time, about how he lost friends… But every time he did not give up, but boldly moved forward to victory.

Everyone especially remembered his story about one battle with the Germans, when he received his first wound. A shell hit the tank and the vehicle caught fire. Mikhail miraculously survived, having lost his entire crew. He got out of the tank, already shell-shocked and burned. When he almost jumped to the ground, he was wounded again, his shoulder shattered by a bullet. Mikhail lost consciousness and woke up with severe pain in his shoulder. First thought: “We need to crawl to the village nearby.” But when I found myself in the village, I realized that this territory was completely occupied by the Germans. There was only one right solution – to hide in a well of ice water. So he did. The Germans checked the entire village in search of Russian wounded and even looked in that very well, firing more than one machine gun burst into it… But Mikhail was lucky again. He spent almost a day in cold water, but managed to survive and not give up.

And he always told his grandchildren to never give up!

This year, the All-Russian event “Immortal Regiment” will take place online. You can share your family stories about the years of the Great Patriotic War, and also post a photo of a loved one who participated in the war in the “Immortal Regiment” section. (Only registered users can do this.)