Aleksandr Stolper. Story of a Real Man - 1948

Stepan Ivanovich, Stepan Ivanovich! Could you move me over a bit? Just a moment. There we go. Alesha, Alesha. Look here, they're writing about you. Here, read it aloud. Read it, read it out loud. Fighter pilot Lt. Valerian Arkadievich Karpovich flying over enemy position was wounded by a German dum-dum bullet. With his smashed leg ... Keep reading. With his smashed leg he managed to cross enemy lines and return to his unit. They amputated his foot. But the young officer did not want to be released from the army. He devised a prosthetic device of his own design and stubbornly did gymnastic exercises and training. Thanks to that he returned to aviation. He served as inspector in the flying school in Tsarskoe selo, occasionally daring to fly on a special airplane. Fighter pilot Lt. Valerian Arkadievich Karpovich So, what do you have to say? What can I say? He was missing one leg, while I'm missing two. But you're a Soviet man. And I'd be flying a modern fighter, a strut plane, you can't be clumsy and fly one of those. But you're a Soviet man, Aleksei. WAR IN THE AIR A Soviet man ... *** Petrovich, please give me the magazine. Take it. Well, Karpovich, that's it, we'll fly. We'll fly.