Hero of the Soviet Union Tsarenko Lavrenty Ivanovich
Lavrenty Ivanovich Tsarenko was the commander of a tank in the 43rd Guards Tank Regiment of the 7th Guards Mechanized Brigade of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps of the 1st Baltic Front, Guards Lieutenant.
He was born on January 1, 1914, in the aul of Massy, now the village of Leninskoye in the Suzak district of the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan, into a peasant family. He was Ukrainian. A member of the VKP(b)/CPSU since 1944. He had incomplete secondary education. He worked as a mechanic at the MTS.
He served in the Red Army from 1937 to 1940 and from 1942 onwards. In 1943, he graduated from the Kharkov Tank School. He was at the front during the Great Patriotic War starting in August 1943.
As the commander of a tank in the 43rd Guards Tank Regiment (7th Guards Mechanized Brigade, 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps, 1st Baltic Front), Guards Lieutenant Lavrenty Tsarenko was among the first to storm the Latvian city of Jelgava on July 28, 1944, leading infantrymen behind him. In the battle on the streets of the city, the brave officer and his tank crew destroyed three anti-tank guns and four other firing points.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated March 24, 1945, for exemplary performance of combat missions from the command at the front against the German-fascist invaders and for the displayed courage and heroism, Guards Lieutenant Tsarenko Lavrenty Ivanovich was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with the Order of Lenin and the Medal of "Gold Star" (No. 7660).
After the war, L.I. Tsarenko continued his service in the army. Since 1961, Major Tsarenko L.I. was in reserve.
He lived and worked in a state farm in the Suzak district of Kyrgyzstan. He passed away on October 27, 1976. He was buried in the capital of Kyrgyzstan - the city of Frunze (now Bishkek since 1991).
He was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Orders of the Patriotic War 2nd class, the Red Star, and several medals.
Here are some combat episodes from the fierce battles against the hated enemy in 1943-1944, in which the heroism of tank officer Lavrenty Ivanovich Tsarenko was manifested.
On August 17, 1943, the offensive of the 3rd Guards Stalingrad Mechanized Corps began in the direction of the left flank and rear of the Akhtyrka grouping of the enemy. The participation of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps in these battles is well described in A.M. Samsonov's book "From the Volga to the Baltic," published by the Science Publishing House in 1973:
“...at dawn on September 22, 1943, three brigades of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps engaged in battles on the approaches to the city of Zolotonosha...”
The city was captured. But what the guardsmen saw is beyond words — the atrocities of the Nazis against the peaceful population in the city of Zolotonosha were shocking. People were tortured by dogs, brutally beaten, hanged, and shot. Several thousand residents of the city were exterminated. (Currently, there is a memorial obelisk in Zolotonosha, Cherkasy region, dedicated to the victims of the fascist occupation.)
What he saw shocked Lavrenty Ivanovich. He thought at that time: “The Nazis are worse in their atrocities than the Basmachis and White Guards... In a word, both are our hated enemies! They deserve no mercy!”
In the autumn of 1944, Guards Lieutenant Lavrenty Tsarenko led a strike group tasked with breaking into the city of Šiauliai in the Lithuanian SSR and striking the enemy from the rear, advancing further to the cities of Mitava and Tukums, and cutting off the retreating enemy troops of the Riga grouping. This bold tank raid was crowned with brilliant success. The strike group repelled several fierce counterattacks from the enemy, destroyed over a hundred Nazis, captured a general and several officers, many soldiers, and seized rich trophies: 10 tanks, 3 airplanes, and other equipment.
In one of the battles near the Gulf of Riga, Lavrenty Ivanovich was wounded in the head by shrapnel, but he remained in action until his unit completed its combat mission.
After treatment in the hospital, Tsarenko commanded a tank company in the battles for Königsberg and in the destruction of the Baltic grouping of the enemy. He displayed courage and heroism during this time. Here is an excerpt from the award sheet for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union:
“During the battles — from Vitebsk to the Baltic Sea — he fought bravely and courageously.
He personally destroyed 8 anti-tank guns, a self-propelled gun, 6 pillboxes, 8 firing points, 8 trucks, 7 carts with military supplies, 2 ammunition depots, and up to 65 enemy soldiers.”
A great victory over Hitler's fascism was achieved. But in the east, a hotbed of war still remains. And Lavrenty Ivanovich Tsarenko is again in battles against Japanese militarists...
The "invincible" Kwantung Army was defeated. The hero returns to his native land. But the service record of Major of the Tank Troops Lavrenty Ivanovich Tsarenko continues: he is to pass on combat experience to the young generation of Soviet soldiers.
In 1949, Lavrenty Tsarenko was the commander of a tank unit in the Turkestan Military District. Then he served in the Vualdil district military enlistment office and the Frunze city military enlistment office. He was the military commissar of the Issyk-Kul district military enlistment office.
And finally, peaceful labor in the Kirov gardening state farm in the Sokuluk district. Lavrenty Ivanovich remained faithful to this work until the end of his days. He left us in the sixty-fifth year of a beautiful and heroic life, devoted entirely to the Motherland and the people.