Molodchii, Aleksandr

Born June 27, 1920, in Lugansk, now Voroshilovgrad. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (Oct. 22, 1941, and Dec. 31, 1942); lieutenant general of aviation (1962). Member of the CPSU since 1942.

Molodchii has been in the Red Army since 1937. He graduated from the Military Aviation Pilots School in 1938 and from the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1959. In the Great Patriotic War (19414-5) he was deputy squadron commander of the 420th and 748th Long-range Air Regiments, deputy commander and commander of squadrons of the 2nd Guards Air Regiment (1941^44), and pilot-inspector of a long-range air division (1944—45). Molodchii completed 311 combat sorties, bombing important military targets near Demiansk, Pskov, Novgorod, Kursk, Briansk, Konigsberg, Budapest, and Berlin. After the war he held responsible command positions in the air force. He has been in the reserves since March 1965. Molodchii has been awarded three Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Red Star, various medals, and the Order of the Red Banner of the Mongolian People’s Republic.