The Volyn Regional Council has appealed to President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko with a request to confer the title of Hero of Ukraine on Chornobyl disaster liquidator, helicopter crew commander Anatoliy Hryshchenko (posthumously), a correspondent of the Western Information Corporation reported.
The appeal concerns the need to establish historical justice regarding former Lutsk resident Anatoliy Demyanovych Hryshchenko. Working as commander of a separate detachment of test pilots, Anatoliy Hryshchenko worked on liquidating the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. He performed complex work there on decontaminating the radioactive territory, developed a method for transporting slabs for the construction of the sarcophagus, and trained helicopter personnel to master flight skills under conditions of radioactive contamination.
While performing the work, A. Hryshchenko received an excessive dose of radiation and became seriously ill. With funds collected by his colleagues, he underwent a bone marrow transplant operation in the USA, but this no longer saved the pilot.
For the courage and bravery he displayed during the liquidation of the accident at the ChNPP, Anatoliy Hryshchenko was posthumously awarded the title "Hero of Russia." King Juan Carlos I of Spain erected a memorial in his memory. The worldwide organization "Pilot Safety Foundation" awarded him the highest award for test pilots, the "Lone Hawk."
In his homeland, the hero's memory has still not been properly honored.