Mikhail Petrovich Odintsov

Born Nov. 18, 1921, in the village of Polozovo, Chastye Raion, Perm’ Oblast. Honored Pilot of the USSR (1967); twice Hero of the Soviet Union (Feb. 4, 1944, and June 27, 1945); lieutenant general of aviation (1968). Member of the CPSU since 1943.

Odintsov joined the Soviet Army in 1938 and graduated from the Perm’ School for Pilots in 1939, from the V. I. Lenin Military Political Academy in 1952, and from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1959. In the Great Patriotic War (1941–45), Odintsov served on the Southwestern, Briansk, Kalinin, Voronezh, Steppe, and Second and First Ukrainian fronts as a flight commander, deputy commander and commander of a squadron, and deputy commander and navigator of the 155th Guards Assault Aviation Regiment. He made 215 combat flights and personally shot down two enemy aircraft.

After the war, Odintsov held responsible positions in the air force. He became the commander of aviation of a military district in November 1967. Odintsov has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Patriotic War First and Second Class, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals. A bust of Odintsov has been erected in Sverdlovsk.