A rally dedicated to the 110th anniversary of Lieutenant General Ivan Lisov's birth was held in Vitebsk
Lieutenant General Ivan Lisov, a native of Vitebsk, went down in the history of the Airborne Forces. He is called paratrooper number 2. The first number was assigned to his associate – the commander of the USSR Airborne Forces Vasily Margelov, whose deputy and head of the airborne service was our countryman.
Ivan Lisov joined the airborne detachment in the 1930s, when they were still in the formation stage, parachuting from a Grokhovsky system parachute, from the wings of a TB-3 bomber. He was acquainted with pioneer paratroopers – Leonid Minov and Yakov Moshkovsky.
It was Lieutenant General Ivan Lisov who, in 1967, proposed introducing a new headdress for paratroopers – a blue beret (before that it was crimson), which became a symbol of the winged infantry. In addition, Ivan Lisov was the organizer of the development and implementation of mass parachute sports and orienteering in the USSR.
The name of our countryman is immortalized on a sculptural composition in honor of Vitebsk paratroopers. The monument in Victory Park features bas-reliefs of Generals Ivan Lisov and Hero of the Soviet Union Vasily Margelov.
– Ivan Lisov is a legendary figure. He made an invaluable contribution to the establishment of the Airborne Forces. He was a true patriot, an example for the younger generation to follow. Unfortunately, the city has not yet paid him due honors. Now we are filling the gap. The regional organization "Belaya Rus" has come up with the initiative to install a memorial plaque on the street formerly called Krivaya, and now Kutuzova, where the renowned paratrooper was born, – noted Vladimir Terentyev, Chairman of the Regional Council of Deputies.
Veterans of the airborne forces, servicemen of the 103rd Airborne Brigade, cadets, relatives of Lieutenant General Ivan Lisov, and citizens came to honor the memory of the renowned countryman.
On the same day, an exhibition opened at the regional library, featuring books by Ivan Lisov dedicated to the history of the Airborne Forces, famous paratroopers, as well as scientific publications – textbooks for paratroopers.
