Vitallii Sergeevich Gaev.

(From Kholm Slavy (The Hill of Glory). By G.N. Rokotov. Izdatel'stvo "Kamenyar" L'vov, 1965. Third edition with changes, 1972. Page 100. The "Hill of Glory" in the city of L'vov [Lviv, Lemberg] in the Ukraine is a large war cemetery.)

Guards colonel. Commander of the 42nd Smolensk Red-Banner Separate Guards Heavy Tank Brigade. Born 18 April 1908 in the town of Kurgan. Russian. Party member. In 1928 drafted into active service in the Red Army. Finished military school in Kalinin. In the operational army from the first days of the war. During the Great Patriotic War awarded the order of the Red Star, twice the order of the Red Banner, the order of the Kutuzov 2nd class, the order of Suvorov 2nd class, and the order of the Patriotic War 1st class (posthumous). Killed 8 May 1945 near Prague, Czechoslovakia. By the decision of the military council of the 4th Ukrainian Front the coffin with the body of the Guards Colonel V.S. Gaev was transported to L'vov and buried on the Hill of Glory. Row 9, plot 6.

Translated by Mark Conrad, 2004.