Today, he told me about his own dad's (great-gramp) military service, including GPW, talked about brawling rules among the peasantry, and other shit. Got real proud talking about his one-two move* for village dance fights (as in, brawls that break out at the dances), and a bit teary eyed when talking about his brothers' signature moves.
His dad's military service was wild. First, an Uhlan in the interwar Lithuanian military.
Then he got drafted into the Red Army.
In the fourth month of the year of Our Lord nineteen fourty-one