Vasily Osipov
Vasily Nikolaevich Osipov (; – 16 July 1991) was a Soviet long-range bomber pilot who was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Early life Osipov was born on in Petrograd to a working-class Russian family. After completing his tenth grade of school he focused on his dream of following in his father's footsteps by joining the military, participating in sharpshooting and sports before joining the Red Army in August 1937. After graduating from the 1st Chkalov Military Aviation School of Pilots in November 1940 he was posted to the 169th Reserve Aviation Regiment, based in Voronezh. Shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union he transferred to the 231st Long-Range Bomber Aviation Regiment in May 1941. World War II Shortly after entering combat in July 1941, Osipov transferred to the 81st Long Range Bomber Aviation Regiment in August 1941, which was honored with the guards designation and renamed to the 5th Guards Long Range Bomber Aviation Regiment one year later. He soon accomplished difficult missions, destroying a heavily-protected targets and difficult to find targets with direct hits, including; a crossing on the Dnieper river on 24 September 1941, a crossing through the Miusskaya estuary on