In war, even the truest words about military duty must be proven through action, and often through heroism. On 21 April 1982, Alexander Demakov, deputy company commander for political affairs (political officer), took the place of the commander, who had fallen ill, on a combat mission. With a small group of soldiers, he headed towards the Afghan village of Rudod, which had been destroyed by the mujahideen because its inhabitants supported government policy.
After spotting two mujahideen, Demakov’s group followed them in the hope of locating the entire band. The plan worked, but the band proved to be several times larger than our group. A fierce battle broke out. Exploiting their numerical superiority, the mujahideen attempted to attack several times, but were forced back by fire from our soldiers. Although Alexander radioed for assistance, he realised that his small group would be wiped out before it arrived.
In such a situation, the commander would have had to leave behind a covering party of three or four men — in effect, men facing certain death — while leading the rest away from enemy fire. But Demakov was not merely a commander: he was a political officer and a communist who had often spoken to his soldiers about the importance of fulfilling their duty. Remaining true to his role as political officer to the very end, Alexander made a different decision.
‘Everyone, crawl to the irrigation ditch!’ he ordered his men. ‘I’ll hold off the mujahideen myself.’ Seeing Sergeant Valiyev taking up position beside him, the political officer repeated loudly, ‘I ordered EVERYONE to leave!’, then added quietly, ‘Leave me the grenades.’ Thus, the communist Demakov remained behind with an assault rifle and four grenades — enough to hold off the mujahideen and give his men time to withdraw.
Until the very last moment, Alexander remained in contact with the battalion commander:
‘Commander, we’ve beaten off another attack. The men have got out. I’m wounded; I’ll dress the wound now.’
‘The bastards are attacking again. I’m still holding out … Wounded again. I’ll hold out, I’ll make it …’
‘Commander, I’ve been wounded for the fourth time. I have one grenade left …’
His last words were:
‘That’s it, Commander. Goodbye. I won’t make it out of here. The lads got away — let them try to save themselves. I can’t move — my arms and legs are shattered. Tell my mother that I died as a man… Tell everyone that I am dying as a Soviet citizen, as a Communist! Goodbye…’
When Sergeant Kushnaryov’s men reached the scene of the battle, they found the body of their fallen deputy political officer surrounded by dead mujahideen. He had detonated his last grenade against himself to kill as many of the enemies surrounding him as possible. Thus, not in word but in deed, the 22-year-old Communist Alexander Demakov fulfilled Christ’s commandment: ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’
Years earlier, in a school essay about the heroes of the Young Guard, the young Sasha Demakov had written: ‘The highest government award is the Order of Lenin. But I believe that the greatest honour is eternal remembrance for those who gave their lives for others.’
In 1982, Alexander Ivanovich Demakov was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin and the Order of the Red Star.
The government bestowed its highest honours upon the Hero. It is now our duty to remember his feat for ever.
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