Honored Allies Wednesday: Mariya V. Oktyabrskaya (Soviet Union)

 

Mariya Vasilyevna Oktyabrskaya

Mariva was born into serfdom in the Crimea and when the October Revolution took hold, she and those like her embraced the Communist ideals with eagerness.  She would then find herself married to an Army officer who would introduce her to the army in which she enjoyed greatly.  Shortly after her marriage, the Great Patriotic War begin and her husband would find himself on the front line defending her along with the rest of the Motherland from the invading Nazis.  She would not learn of her husband's death until two years later after he fell at Kiev.  Beside herself with grief and anger, she sold all of her belongings and wrote to Comrade Stalin himself and said:

"My husband was killed in action defending the motherland.  I want revenge on the fascist dogs for his death and for the death of Soviet people tortured by the fascist barbarians.  For this purpose, I’ve deposited all my personal savings – 50,000 rubles – to the National Bank in order to build a tank.  I kindly ask to name the tank "Fighting Girlfriend" and to send me to the front line as a driver of said tank."

Seeing this for the perfect propaganda subject, it was agreed that her request be granted and she was trained and would later drive non-other then her "Fighting Girlfriend" T-34 tank.  Mariya would soon find herself exacting her revenge against the Nazis around Smolensk where she would be promoted to Sgt. when refusing orders to stand down, she instead headed out into the combat and fixed her damaged tank while under fire.  A couple months later she would do the same thing and be lauded as the "Mother" of the unit.  Then during a night engagement around the city of Vitebsk, Mariya would yet again brave the war zone in repairing her immobilized tank but unfortunately she was riddled with shrapnel by a near by enemy shell and would die several months later from her wounds.  Guards Senior Sergeant Oktyabrskaya would posthumously receive the Hero of the Soviet Union for her bravery in the defense of the Motherland and her fellow comrades.

A true patriotic citizen if I ever did read one, 

Brian

 "Fighting Girlfriend" moving toward the front!  

Parody of rejected Disney ideas for upcoming princess movies.

A great documentary about this honored ally!