Duskin Platoon: How a 17-year-old nurse became the only female Marine platoon commander

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

After the war Evdokia Zavaliy She worked as a store director, raised children and grandchildren, led an ordinary life, but she could not forget the horrors she had to go through. At night, she screamed so that relatives and friends were even afraid to approach her. Nightmares did not let go for a long time, because Dusya went to the war as a 15-year-old teenager, she went a long way from a nurse to a colonel's guard. She fearlessly rushed into attacks, fought, posing as a man, was wounded four times, twice killed, but survived and met the long-awaited Victory.

Evdokia decided to go to defend the Motherland as soon as she found out that the war had begun. On the day of the first bombing, she was in the field and saw the shells exploding and the wounded fall. She was ready to work as a nurse, just to help the front, she attributed to herself three years, as many young people did at that time. Running away from home, I wanted to hide my decision from loved ones, but the grandmother looked at her sternly and understood everything. Later, Evdokia recalled that her grandmother was a healer and had the gift of foreseeing the future. Saying goodbye, she told her granddaughter that she would return alive, but she would bleed four times, and the white geese would bring her back. Then Evdokia ignored the grandmother's words about geese, but a few years later the prophecy came true.

The military path began with the post of a nurse, however, the part with which Evdokia left, a month later came under fire during the crossing, and the girl was severely wounded in the stomach. After treatment in the hospital, she still rushed to the front line, and achieved her goal, but ended up in the reserve regiment. She received her first Order of the Red Star for pulling a wounded officer out of the fire. During the service, Evdokia looked like a man: she wore the same soldier's uniform as they did, and her long braids were cut off in the hospital, so that a short forelock remained. The external resemblance to a man helped her at a time when she did not expect this at all: during the selection of fighters for the front line, she liked her, the documents were checked, and it said: "Fill up Evdok." So Evdokia became Evdokim and ended up in the marines.

Evdokia decided to hide that she was a woman, because she was afraid of being demoted. She did an excellent job with tasks, never was a coward. History has preserved one of her heroic deeds. Being surrounded, the marines were left without food and ammunition, Evdokia managed to wade to the shore occupied by the opponents, and ferry everything necessary from there on a makeshift raft. Moreover, to get out safe and sound from the shelling, which began after her position was declassified.

In male form, Evdokia fought for about eight months. The deception was revealed when, in one of the heavy battles in the Kuban, she was again wounded. Considering her military merits and fearlessness with which she always called the fighters to the attack, Evdokia Zavaliy was sent to lieutenant courses immediately after being discharged from the hospital. After successfully completing the training, Evdokia became a platoon commander.

Of course, many soldiers did not want to obey the woman. Contemptuously her platoon was called "Duska's platoon", but all the jokes and ridicule stopped after Evdokia began to undertake bold forays against the Germans. The enemy christened Evdokia "Frau Black Death", and there were many successful operations in her individual standings. In particular, during the offensive in the Budapest direction, Evdokia, together with her platoon, was tasked to take the headquarters of the German command. They made their way to the right place through sewer pipes with sewage. The operation was carried out brilliantly, they took a German general prisoner. When it was announced to him who commanded the platoon, he did not believe, but, seeing Evdokia Zavaliy, who came to him, without having time to change clothes and wash, silently handed her his weapon as a sign of respect and recognition of her strength.

It is interesting that the grandmother's omens came true: Evdokia was seriously injured four times and was twice shell-shocked, and survived due to the fact that she received a blood transfusion on time. For this, a soldier with the speaking surname Huseynov sacrificed his life. Remembering the war, Evdokia often talked about how soldiers from her platoon saved her. She was twice included in the lists of the dead, her name is carved on two mass graves, where she is not buried.

After the war, Evdokia Zavaliy led an active life, she traveled a lot in the former Soviet republics, met with young military men. She passed away in 2010.

There were many such brave women fighters as Evdokia Zavaliy during the war years. So, female snipers were considered the best shooters.