USMANOV JURAKHAN

USMANOV JURAKHAN

Senior Sergeant, Participant of World War II,  The Hero of the Soviet Union (January 15, 1944)

He was born on February 12, 1923 in the village of Savat, Khavast district (now Syrdarya region) in a peasant family. He was Uzbek. He graduated from high school. He was the secretary of the Komsomol organization of the collective farm named after F.E. Dzerzhinsky.
In March 1942, he was drafted into the Red Army.
In 1942 he was promoted to assistant platoon commander of the 237th Rifle Regiment. He completed short-term junior lieutenant courses.
On the night of September 29, 1943, Lieutenant Ozerov’s platoon crossed the Soj River near the village of Karpovka, Lvov District, Gomel Province, Belarus. Crossing the river, he managed to capture a small bridgehead. Enemy forces carried out more than 30 counterattacks. There were only nine people left in the group, and the ammunition was run out. When the fighting stopped, Jurakhan Usmanov offered to collect bullets and grenades from the battlefield. The collected bullets were fired until additional force came.
By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of January 15, 1944, “For exemplary performance of combat duties, courage and heroism in the fight against Nazi invaders on the front”, Senior Sergeant Jurakhan Usmanov was awarded the title of “The Hero of the Soviet Union”.
In late 1944, he was seriously wounded and sent to a hospital in Tashkent. On February 14, 1945, he died of his injuries from complications. He was buried in his native village.