A Soldiers Story - Meet Den "Lighthouse"

Den “Lighthouse” is a 35 year old Batallion Reconissance Group Officer.

In October 2022, he was stationed in Bakhmut when a Russian rocket hit their location. This is his story.

"That time, as an artillery reconaissance squad, the boys and me were stationed at a 3-story private house at the outskirts of Bakhmut. Our tasks included detecting enemy artillery and counter-battery warfare.

Little did we know, that particular day was bound to be painted in black for us.

While 2 of us were on duty, an enemy MLRS “Grad” rocket landed right in front of the house, sending chunks of shrapnel to their 3-rd floor. The boys happened to be wounded and one of them lost a leg.

Next 30-40 minutes felt like hours for us. We did all we could to provide combat first aid, stop bleedings and dress their wounds.

We didn’t have any dedicated evacuation vehicle. All hopes were for our commander’s trusty Nissan Pathfinder, which quickly rolled to us from another town. I remember dragging Patty with his nearly mamed-off leg into the Pathfinders spaceous trunk, while Gera, having his belly and leg wounded, was sat at the rear passenger seat.

If we didn’t have that pretty fast 4x4, provided by volunteers, chances were we would not keep the boys alive. But we did. Our commander delivered them to Bakhmut stabilisation point, where combat medics did their job.

Gera and Patty didn’t return to military duty. Nevertheless, they’re both alive and within their families."

Thank you Den for sharing your story. This is WHY we continue what we do.