Vasilii Vasilevich Senko

Born Oct. 15, 1921, in what is now the city of Semenovka, Chernigov Oblast. Military navigator; colonel (1957). Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (Mar. 25, 1943, and June 29, 1945). Member of the CPSU since 1942.

Sen’ko graduated from the Military Aviation School in 1941 and the Air Force Academy in 1952. He served in the Great Patriotic War as a bomber-gunner of the 667th Bombardment Air Regiment (1941–42) and as the crew navigator of the 752nd Long-range Air Regiment (1942–43) and of a flight of the 10th Guards Long-range Air Regiment (from 1943 to the end of the war). Sen’ko fought at Leningrad, on the Don, at Stalingrad, and in Poland, Hungary, East Prussia, and Germany. He made 430 combat flights. Since the war, he has held navigator’s posts in the air force and has taught at higher military schools of the air force. Sen’ko has been awarded the Order of Lenin, the order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Patriotic War First Class, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals.