Alexei Maresyev; WWII Fighter Pilot Was Soviet Hero, Politician

Soviet war hero Alexei Maresyev, a fighter pilot who lost the lower parts of both legs in World War II and then returned to combat, died Friday, minutes before an early celebration to mark his 85th birthday, aides said.

Maresyev was taken to a Moscow hospital Friday morning with severe heart troubles, the ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies reported.

Hundreds of supporters had gathered in Moscow’s Central Russian Army Theater for a birthday tribute to Maresyev when the announcer told them the news. His birthday is Sunday, but the tribute was scheduled for Friday.

Maresyev died at 5:40 p.m.; the celebration was to begin at 6 p.m., ITAR-Tass said.

Elderly war veterans, wearing suits and rows of medals, wept at the news. The Russian Armed Forces orchestra, which was already on stage, stood for a moment of silence in his honor.

Maresyev served in several posts in the Soviet army in World War II. He was shot down over German-occupied territory in Russia in April 1942. Bleeding from several wounds, it took him 18 days of creeping through forests to reach safety.

After he emerged, both of his legs had to be amputated below the knee, but he was given prostheses and returned to combat. In total, he completed 86 combat flights and downed 11 Nazi planes.

He was dubbed a hero of the Soviet Union, and his experience was featured in a story by Soviet writer Boris Polevoi called “The Tale of a Real Man.” Schoolchildren around the Soviet Union were taught of his feat.

But he repeatedly insisted that the praise was exaggerated.

“I’m a man, not a hero,” Maresyev said in an interview with the Argumenty and Fakty newspaper earlier this month. “There’s nothing extraordinary in what I did. The fact that I’ve been turned into a legend irritates me.”

Maresyev later became a member of the Supreme Soviet, part of the Soviet parliament, and for the last several years had served as first deputy chairman of the Union of Veterans and Disabled People of Russia.