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356:'s 8th Aviation Brigade. As of November 1942, Stepanyan was reported to have destroyed 78 German trucks, 67 tanks, 63 anti-aircraft guns, nineteen mortars, 36 railroad cars, twenty merchantmen and warships (including a destroyer), thirteen fuel tankers, twelve armored cars, seven long-range guns, five ammunition dumps, and five bridges. On 23 October 1942, the
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simple and modest man, close and beloved by all; he was a father and teacher to all of us, a friend and a commander....We all wept when Nelson
Gevorgovich failed to return on that fateful day. They say that tears bring comfort. But the few tears of a soldier, like the red-hot drops of metal, burn the
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in western Latvia on 14 December 1944, his squadron was attacked by German fighters. His plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and though wounded, he dove his plane into a fleet of German ships. He died along with navigator of the 47th
Regiment, Captain Aleksandr Rumiantsev. Stepanyan's loss devastated
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in April 1944. Under his command, the regiment participated in battles over
Sevastopol, Feodosia, and Sudak. Stepanyan had personally sunk three landing barges in one of his first combat missions. His plane was severely damaged on 22 May. Prior to the offensive, the 47th Regiment had destroyed 8
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family. Nelson's father Gevorg
Stepanyan was originally from Yerevan, and lived in a house on what is now Yekmalyan street in Yerevan. Nelson's mother originally was from Shushi. In 1911, Gevorg temporarily moved to Shushi, then the center of Artsakh, where he ran the Shushi office of the
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379:); for its efforts, the 47th Regiment was given the honorific title of Theodosia. Stepanyan was also shot down over enemy lines, although friendly partisans aided him to reach back Soviet lines. Stepanyan was called "
305:. Soon after Nelson was born, the Stepanyan family moved back to Yerevan. There Nelson attended the Transcaucasian Preparatory Military School, graduating from in 1930. He continued his studies at the
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Soviet sources assert that
Stepanyan undertook no less than 239 combat sorties, sunk 53 ships thirteen of which he did alone, destroyed 80 tanks, 600 armored vehicles, and 27 aircraft.
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was going to be destroyed by the order of the new independent
Latvian authorities, but was rescued by the Russian Navy. Located in Liepāja until the mid-1990s, it was transported to
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After
Stepanyan's promotion to the rank of major in 1943, he became the commander of the 47th Assault Aviation Regiment. With his unit, he took part in the Soviet offensives around
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664:Губернатор Ульяновской области Сергей Морозов принял участие в открытии памятника Героям Советского Союза в Ульяновском высшем авиационном училище гражданской авиации
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transports, 12 barges, 9 patrol boats, and more than 3,000 soldiers and officers. In May 1944, after the liberation of Crimea, the 47th
Regiment returned to the
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The pilots who wrote this letter were, among others, airmen Fokin, Lazarev, Klimov, Skayev, Popov, Udaltsov: Khaleian. "Sovetakan
Hayastane," p. 130.
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and is now placed near the Baltic Fleet Naval
Aviation headquarters in Kaliningrad, Russia. During the Soviet era, a large fishing trawler and
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issued postage envelopes and stamps with his image on them. On 8 May 2011, the eve of the 66th anniversary of the victory in the
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invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941. He volunteered for combat and participated in a number of battles as a pilot of an
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Military Aviation School, where he graduated in 1935 and became a flight instructor at the school from then until 1938.
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the rest of the men in the squadron. His fellow pilots sent the following letter to his parents after his death:
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Khaleian, Yervand M. "Sovetakan Hayastane Hayrenakan Mets Paterazmi haghtakan avarti shrjanum" in
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pilot and regimental commander in the Soviet Air Force who was twice awarded with the title of the
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Stepanyan was conferred with his second Hero of the Soviet Union, posthumously, on March 6, 1945.
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dedicated to pilots who were Heroes of the Soviet Union. He also has streets named after him in
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He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title a second time posthumously for his sacrifice.
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while he as a pilot in the 2nd Aviation Squadron, part of the 57th Regiment in the
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591:. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1985, vol. 11, p. 130.
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Stepanyan was teaching at another military flight academy when
626:. Yerevan: Armenian Academy of Sciences, 1970, vol. 8, p. 126.
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detachments were named after him. Both the Soviet Union and
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Combat pilots - Twice and thrice Heroes of the Soviet Union
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Soviet pilot and air force lieutenant colonel (1913–1944)
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and the last in his hometown of Shushi. The statue in
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however they do not confirm any plane hitting a ship
265:15 March] 1913 – 14 December 1944) was an
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328:. Stepanyan took part in defensive battles at
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386:The 47th Regiment was sent to assist in the
610:. November 16, 1942. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
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812:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
284:Stepanyan was born on 28 March [
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667:(in Russian). Aviaport.ru. 10 May 2011
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494:and schools named after him in
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704:; Bodrikhin, Nikolai (2017).
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424:heart and call for vengeance.
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589:Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia
414:On his final sortie against
243:Nelson Georgievich Stepanyan
288:15 March] 1913 in
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189:" Assault Aviation Regiment
55:Нельсон Георгиевич Степанян
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460:Stepanakert
124:Latvian SSR
62:Nickname(s)
38:Native name
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728:1005741956
671:8 November
553:References
488:Sevastopol
393:Baltic Sea
369:Sevastopol
334:Zaporozhye
280:Early life
134:Allegiance
102:Azerbaijan
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492:Feodosiya
484:Ulyanovsk
373:Theodosia
350:Leningrad
187:Theodosia
167:1930–1944
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247:Armenian
182:Commands
152:Service/
43:Armenian
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472:Pioneer
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456:Yerevan
450:In the
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330:Poltava
319:Germany
307:Bataysk
255:Russian
236:(twice)
217:†
120:Liepāja
51:Russian
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435:Memory
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338:Odessa
296:to an
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708:[
96:(now
724:OCLC
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673:2013
607:Time
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