Ground Report

News of the passing of a great man in Russia – Mikhail Kalshnikov died on 23 December 2013 at a hospital after a prolonged illness. Best know as designer of the AK-47 assault rifle. But he was so much more including a proponent of peace with the United States through much of the cold war.

During a rare visit to the United States in the early 2000s, Kalashnikov was invited to tour a Virginia holding site for the forthcoming American Wartime Museum.

See article: http://www.susankatzkeating.com/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-dead-at-94-once.html

There the former soldier and tank commander  Kalashnikov became visibly moved and wiped away tears at the sight of his old tank in action, painted with his name in Cyrillic.

He thanked people at the surprise event and expressed the hope that “our two people could grow in friendship.”

Kalashnikov served on the T-34s of the 24th Tank Regiment, 108th Tank Division stationed in Stryi before the regiment retreated after the bloody tank Battle of Brody in June 1941.

He was severely wounded and almost killed in combat in the Battle of Bryansk in October 1941 and hospitalized until April 1942.

The Red Army, as part of the Orel-Bryansk Defensive Operation (30 September 1941 – 23 October 1941) lost over 80,000 killed in and around the area of the city.

Another 50,000 prisoners were taken, before XXXXVII Corps proceeded on to its next objective, Orel.

While in hospital, he overheard some fellow soldiers complaining about the Soviet rifles of the time.

The rest is history so to speak. He went on to design the AK-47 – the most popular weapon in the world helping to turn the tide in WW2.

For his extra ordinary service to Russia he was awarded a medal “Hero of the Russian Federation” (Russian: Герой Российской Федерации) which is the highest honorary title of the Russian Federation.

See related article: https://groundreport.com/this-is-an-enormous-irreparable-loss-for-all-of-us-said-putin-of-general-kalashnikovs-passing/