“I begin to understand the feelings of grandfather”
“In the first grade, I thought that in general all children had military parents, because my classmate's parents were also military personnel.
Since childhood, I have believed that military service is an absolutely natural and normal choice for any person,” says 38-year-old Anton Luzik.
His father served in the Northern Fleet.
Anton was born in Leningrad, but spent most of his childhood in the military garrison of Severomorsk.
“Since my brother entered the Naval Engineering Institute in Pushkin in 1996 and also became a sailor, my choice was absolutely obvious,” he adds.
The man graduated from the Military Medical Academy and became a naval surgeon in the Northern Fleet.
Now he is already a lieutenant colonel of the medical service and heads the dental department as chief dentist of the 442nd military clinical hospital of the Western Military District.
“I always wanted to be a doctor and a military man at the same time, and in the ninth grade I found out that there is a Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg, which just prepares for the profession of my dreams,” recalls Luzik.
© Photo from personal archive
Anton is a military man already in the fourth generation.
His paternal grandfather fought in the Great Patriotic War, twice ended up in death camps and escaped from there, joined the Red Army and participated in the battle for Berlin.
“Due to the fact that he was in the occupied territories as a child and then in concentration camps, the path to military universities was closed to my grandfather.
And even when he entered the construction institute in Leningrad, unfortunately, he was expelled because of this.
He became the foreman of the construction team, and many buildings in our city were built by him,” says Anton Luzik.
My mother's grandmother lived in besieged Leningrad, he continues: “At the age of 15, she tried to go to the front, but she was refused due to the fact that she had tuberculosis of the skin of her face.
Then she entered the ranks of the civil air defense.
From 1941 to 1943, she was on duty on the roofs of houses, guarding the city from incendiary bombs, and warning about raids.
Anton’s great-grandfather graduated from the Naval Cadet Corps, received an officer’s rank and went to serve in Helsinki at our naval base, the man says: “Then he was transferred to Kronstadt due to revolutionary events, and with the outbreak of the Civil War he left military service.”
Even the wife of Anton Luzik is a soldier.
“My wife's mother served in the Severnomorsk-3 flight garrison.
When we, after the wedding, having changed several military garrisons, arrived in Rostov-on-Don, my wife herself expressed a desire to be called up for military service, ”he says.
- To be honest, at first I was cautious about this, because there are prejudices about whether it is a woman’s business to serve in the army.
But I was not against this idea, if the spouse herself considers such a path necessary.
And now, five years later, she does not regret her choice.
Now he serves in one of the structures of the Northern Fleet.
It is not surprising that children in such a family want to continue the work of their parents.
The eldest son, Ilya, entered the Nakhimov Naval School, and, as Anton recalls, this came as a surprise to him and his wife: “We arrived in St. I was captivated by a story about the life and life of lyceum students, which he himself wanted to study in a strict male team.
Now, already being a father, Anton says that he begins to understand the feelings of older relatives when their children choose the military path.
Grandfather came to the academy in 2000 to take the oath of the grandson.
“A cousin took a picture of my grandfather at that solemn moment.
He had a smile on his face, tenderness to tears.
He went through this difficult life path, participated in such colossal events as the Great Patriotic War, lived a long life ... And he sees how everything he did in this life for his children and grandchildren was not in vain.
"There is something to be proud of"
The family of 44-year-old Dmitry Guliy can be safely called an example of a military dynasty.
“Dad is a military man, maternal grandfather served in the Panfilov Brigade, fought near Moscow, was wounded, awarded the Order of the Great Patriotic War, I degree,” he lists.
- My paternal grandfather died in 1941 in Western Ukraine at the hands of Bandera.
Subsequently, I learned that my great-great-grandfather also served in the tsarist army, participated in the liberation of the Crimea.
The path of the ancestors is continued by the descendants.
Dmitry and his wife Yulia have three sons: the eldest is studying at the Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the middle one is graduating from the Moscow
Suvorov School and is going to enter the Admiral Kuznetsov Naval Academy, and the youngest is still at school, but already wants to become a military doctor.
© Photo from personal archive
Dmitry is from Sevastopol.
In 1994, he left to study in St. Petersburg, at the Dzerzhinsky Naval Engineering School.
After graduation, he served in the Marine Corps for six years.
Now Dmitry is a colonel, head of one of the areas in the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense.
According to the man, living in the city of Russian sailors, one cannot help but get carried away by the navy.
“I remember how dad took me to his military unit, I watched how the sailors served, what they did, what order was there.
It inspired me,” says Dmitry.
- But there were special impressions when he brought me to the parades in honor of Navy Day or May 9, when you could look at huge ships not in the picture, but live.
But what to see there, you could walk around them yourself!
He says that the eldest and middle sons also became interested in the military profession: “When the eldest was three or four years old, I served in the Marine Corps.
And then one day I lined up a subdivision on the parade ground, and he stood at attention at the end of the line and listened with a serious look to how the analysis was going on.
At first I didn’t even understand why the sailors were laughing, and they were distracted by the child.”
According to the officer, the duty of parents is to help decide where to go to study, but the children themselves should choose the future direction of service.
“It makes no difference whether you will be a sailor, a paratrooper, or, like me, you will defend your Motherland at the diplomatic level.
There is something to strive for, there is something to be proud of,” he argues.
The 23-year-old eldest son Vyacheslav almost word for word says the same thing as his father: “Serving the Motherland does not always mean holding a weapon in your hands.
You can protect the population and people dear to you in peacetime inside the country.”
The family has always been an example for him, the young man adds, and therefore there were no doubts about which path to choose: “I looked at my father, at my grandfather and knew that they were reliable, resilient and confident in the future.
I realized that if I want the same for myself, then I must act in the same way.
Continuing the dynasty of the military, the eldest son feels not only pride, but also great responsibility: “There are many people of your kind behind you who gave their lives to serve the Motherland.
And you must understand that what they laid down now continues in you.”
The middle son Daniel is now 18 years old.
He made the decision to go to the Suvorov School himself, although not without the delicate advice of his father.
“At that time, I was not good at sports, and there were some problems with discipline.
And dad said that the Suvorov School has a good education, they can bring up a real person, teach different rules of etiquette, improve physical fitness.
The young man plans to enter the Naval Academy, like his father, but to study in the direction of military-political work.
“As a child, I rushed between different professions: I wanted to become a sailor and a marine.
In kindergarten, a music teacher once told me to put on a naval officer's cap and sing a song about a sailor.
Maybe it all started with this, - Daniil smiles. - In the fifth grade, one of the cadets who came to the school for an internship called me "Sailor".
And, of course, I constantly saw my father in uniform, went to Sevastopol, watched the ships at the parade.
You see the power of our country, our army.
You can't remain indifferent to this."
“I didn’t plan to be a tanker”
Anton Starostin is 26 years old, he was born in Kaliningrad in a family of officers.
Father - lieutenant colonel, mother - ensign, both served in the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, now retired.
Grandfather is a major in the air defense forces, and great-grandfather, a lieutenant colonel of the railway troops, was in the ranks of the Red Army.
In 2016, the young man entered the Kazan Higher Tank Command School.
“As a child, I had more tanks than other toys, and many books about them.
At the same time, I did not plan to be a tanker, I just knew that I would become a military man.
But when the time came to enter, I figured out where my mindset would come in handy, what subjects are easier for me, and chose the school in accordance with this, ”recalls Anton.
© Photo from personal archive
According to him, he did not even consider the option of a career in civilian life: “My whole life was with the military, I constantly lived in garrisons.
In one of them, a sergeant was even “assigned” to me: he went with me to the unit when my father brought me to work.
Although the young man does not yet have children, he would like his son to continue their family business.
“Being a soldier is a worthy profession at all times.
I am a fourth generation officer, I would not like to change traditions.
You can change the type of the Armed Forces, the structure, but not stop serving the Motherland, ”he says.
After graduating from college, Anton served two years, and on February 24, 2022, senior lieutenant, tank company commander of the 126th separate coastal defense brigade of the Black Sea Fleet was sent to a special operation.
His unit captured the crossing across the Dnieper, which ensured the breakthrough of the main forces to capture the area of the dam of the North Crimean Canal, in addition, his crew destroyed eight enemy armored personnel carriers during an attempt to recapture the crossing.
Anton was shell-shocked, but did not withdraw from the battle, and his crew destroyed two more Ukrainian tanks.
For this, the military man was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation on March 4 by decree of Vladimir Putin.
“The realization that I became a Hero of Russia at that age has not yet come.
Before leaving, I didn’t think: “Now I’ll go and earn medals for myself,” this has never happened.
It's nice, of course, that they appreciated your merit, ”the officer shares his emotions.
During the battle, Anton was also wounded in the arm.
The young man is still in a military hospital: due to a nerve damaged by a shrapnel, he needs rehabilitation.
He does not stop thinking about his comrades-in-arms: “I somehow feel uneasy, I worry that now I am here, and my guys are there, without me.
I want to get well soon and go there.
Although no one will let me in with such a hand anyway... I hope that my comrades will soon return home safe and sound.
And when I recover and return to the battalion, all my guys will be there,” the officer says.