OldSoldierOpa

I couldn't believe how friendly the people were, and the freedom that we had. We were not afraid of the government! I really appreciated this American freedom. When I wanted a new job, I could change it. When I wanted to talk, I could talk! I am very glad that I am in America. I am a good citizen. I am very lucky to be here.

Yes, the Soviets forced us. The officers were well dressed and fed, and sat back while we fought. If we didn't fight well or if we turned back, they threatened to shoot. Before battles, commissar said "comrade soldiers, you fight the Germans. If you don't have a weapon, use your fist. Kill the Germans! March, forward."

When you come up from a ditch, you didn't see the Germans, because they were hiding. But then, they started shooting us. In 15-20 minutes, half of the several thousand men were gone. Some dead, some heavily wounded, some lightly wounded. I don't think I killed anyone. My mother hugged me and cried before I left for the war, and asked me not to kill anyone.

When you came back from a battle, you were asked how many Germans you killed. The first time, I said that I didn't see the Germans, which upset my commissar. He called me a coward. The man next to me told him that he killed 4 and injured 6 (although it was a lie), and the commissar called him a hero. This was an ongoing lie in the Russian Army.

In the German prison camp, it was terrible. When I got there I was so skinny. A lot of people got dysentery, luckily not me. The soup was like sawdust, but I tried to pick out only the good parts of the soup, like the horse meat. We had an Armenian doctor who made me a head senator. I helped sicker people, and was able to eat some bread everyday, and got a little stronger.

When I marched with the Germans, I was more healthy. The conditions were bad to march in, and the skinny horses had trouble pulling the wagons. We had to walk everyday to the frontline to bring ammunition and bring back dead bodies. It was tiring and we did struggle, but they gave more food than the Russians, 3 meals a day. They gave me better boots. They had so many left over from dead soldiers.

After a few weeks struggling at the front line, I noticed an old man taking care of the horses. I was scared of him, but I went up to him and told him that I am a veterinarian, too. He told my officer that he needed my help. I believe that this man saved my life. He kept me away from the frontline. This work was a lot less tiring, and I was able to gain more strength.

When I finally went back to Azerbaijan for the first time in 1972. It had been 32 years! On of my friends traveled to Azerbaijan, and was ale to find my family for me. I couldn't believe it, my mother was still alive! And they couldn't believe that I was alive! They thought I was dead. It was a tradition to make a shrine of my photo, and they did that with my soldier picture.

Over 300 people were waiting for me at the airport! Some of my family traveled 400 miles to Baku, to greet me. We were so excited, and crying. I saw so many of my young relatives that I had never met before. At that time, it was still a communist country, and I only had a tourist visa, meaning I had to stay in only certain tourist hotels.

In the Soviet army, they were very poor. Very little food, the boots were poor, and the discipline was not good. For example, we walked in the Caucasus Mountains with blisters on your feet. You could barely walk, and had to go so slow. Officers on horseback would come by with a whip and say "comrade, you're walking too slow, you must walk fast. You must walk fast for this country and for Stalin." Once someone fought back against an officer, and was shot. This scared us into keep walking, no matter what.

When we fought in the mountains, the food was very poor. After walking many miles, there would be barely anything in the kitchens. We had cabbage soup and special dried bread. That's all. We had no shelter in the Mountains, sleeping in open fields, in the cold and snow even. A lot of people died in the cold.

I was captured in these mountains. I was wounded in an explosion (shrapnel in my head). I lost my conscious (and a finger), and when I woke up a German was beating my back. I did not think I would be rescued by the Soviets. In the Russian army, you were never supposed to fall to prisoner, you were supposed to shoot yourself, instead. When I was in prison camp in Maykop (in southern Russia) the Russians advanced on the Germans. Fearing for my life, I marched on with the Germans.

Well, he's a little bit of a dictator, but not like Stalin. He didn't put people in jail or kill them for nothing. Stalin sent millions of innocent to Siberia to die, including my father. At least Putin didn't do this.