I could say something snarky about life in the Soviet Union wasn’t really living but I won’t.
These men are HEROES of the highest order. Civilians aren’t normally faced with the prospects of death but these men knew that if they didn’t do their heroic acts, millions would die a long and miserable death.
So upon their shoulders they held the lives of millions and of generations in the future.
Too bad any medals they would receive posthumously have been watered down by medal inflation.
Russia should have minted a new category for those who sacrificed their lives for literally millions of others, across national borders.
As an American,I salute these men.
I remember those senior citizens in Japan who volunteered to go in the Fukushima plant when it was still highly radioactive. They reasoned that they were old and did not have a lot of time left anyway and that what they did would save the younger folks. I hope the younger generation has such cajones to face almost certain death to save others when their time comes.