Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev was a Russian military pilot in the Second World War. In 1941, he graduated from the Bataysk Military School of Aviation. In that same year, he began to fly as a fighter pilot. By March 1942, he had shot down four German aircrafts.
On April 5, 1942, Maresyev’s plane was shot down. In the aftermath, he was almost captured. Somehow, he evaded capture. Aleksey was badly wounded in the crash. It took him eighteen days to return to Soviet-controlled territory. By the time he made it to safety, his body was so badly damaged that neither of his legs worked.
Before his surgery, most doctors believed that Aleksey Maresyev’s body was so badly damaged that he was a lost cause. Besides his damaged legs, he was also suffering from blood poisoning and gangrene. Doctors had laid him on a stretcher with a sheet over his face. They left him for dead.
However, one doctor agreed to operate on Maresyev. This doctor promised to save both legs. The doctor was successful in saving Aleksey’s life. Unfortunately, both legs were lost in the process, having to be amputated above the knee. It appeared as if Aleksey’s opportunity to help in the war effort was over.
For a year, Maresyev subjected himself to intensive exercises in an attempt to walk with prosthetic legs. He returned to flying planes in June 1943. In total, he completed eighty combat missions and shot down at least seven German aircrafts. He was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on August 24, 1943.
After the Second World War, Maresyev earned his Ph.D. in history and worked with the Soviet War Veterans Committee. He passed away from a heart attack on May 18, 2001. He was just a few hours shy of his eighty-fifth birthday. Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev has been seen as a hero by Russians, Americans, and the world alike.
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