Vladimir Leonidovich Govorov was a Soviet General and Politician. He was the son of Soviet military commander MarshalLeonid Govorov.
Early life
Vladimir Govorov was born in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 to Leonid Govorov and Lidia Ivanovna. In 1938, Govorov and a school friend decided to go to Spain to fight for the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. They ran out of the house, and hid in the waste found in a Spanish ship, and secretly slipped him and have been found in the sea.
Military Service
Service in World War II In June 1942 he was drafted into the Red Army. In 1943 he graduated from the Ryazan Artillery School. Since October 1943, Govorov took part in the fighting on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. He commanded a gun platoon, then an artillery battery on the Leningrad and 2nd Baltic front. He participated in the defense of Leningrad, the offensive operations of the Soviet troops in the Baltic states, blockade Kurland grouping. Post-War Service In 1946 he graduated from the High School of artillery officer, then commander of an artillery battalion. At the end in 1949 Govorov graduated from the MV Frunze Military Academy. That same year, he joined the CPSU. In 1963 he graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff and served in the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, serving as chief of staff, and first deputy commander In 1967–1969, Govorov served the post of commander of the 2nd Guards Tank Army. In 1971, Govorov commanded the Baltic Military District. From 1972 - 1980 he served as commander of the Moscow Military District. He became a Candidate member of the CPSU in 1976. On October 28, 1977 Govorov was awarded the rank of General of the Army in time for the 60th anniversary of the October Revolution. Being the Moscow Garrison commander he was able to command parades on 9 Red Square. In December 1980 he was appointed commander of the Far Eastern Military District. He organized Soviet cooperation with the armed forces of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Mongolia, and was appointed deputy Minister of Defense and Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defense in June 1984. For his 60th birthday Govorov was made a Hero of the Soviet Union on 17 October 1984, officially in recognition of his "great contributions in increasing combat readiness, skilled leadership, and personal courage shown in the Great Patriotic War." Govorov did some social work for veterans of the Russian army after the fall of the Soviet union in 1990. He has been associated with the Russian Committee of War Veterans and Military Service which he advocated for veteran affairs.
Death
Govorov died on August 13, 2006 in Moscow after a long illness. He was honored with a funeral ceremony on August 17, and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.
