Ukrainian hero: border guard Roman Gach is committed to the cause and Ukraine
Roman Gach is from Ternopil region. He has been protecting Ukrainian borders in Luhansk region since 2014. On March 6 of this year, a mortar shell in the village of Zhitlivka ended the life of a border guard. For his personal courage and selfless actions in defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the President of Ukraine awarded Roman Gakh with the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the third degree posthumously. Espreso.West tells about the Hero of the Russian-Ukrainian War.
Life was always “on wheels”, the man was devoted to his work and loved Ukraine very much
Roman Gah had a wife and two sons. They are incredibly sad, but proud of their father. Irina says that military service was important for her husband. He was an honest, fair and attentive military man. While doing one of the tasks, they met.
“It was 2005, after graduating from the National Academy of the State Border Service of Ukraine,” Irina recalls. “I worked at a local school. And so it happened that Roman came to congratulate teachers on Professional Day. Then we met. A few years later we got married, and we had a son. Roma called him Daniel. He said — it will be like the famous King Danilo Romanovich Galitsky.”
Because of the service, the family did not have a permanent place of residence. We were always on the road, but always together. Irina admits that her husband loved his work so much that he was less at home than at the service.
“He was very responsible and dedicated to his work. An honest, tolerant, attentive, special, fair military man who loved his Motherland. Sometimes it seemed to me that he loved Ukraine more than his family,” his wife admits. “But later, when I began to serve, I realized that this is the kind of work that Roman could not do at all. He worked for the result.”
In 2014, even the question was not whether he would go to war. The answer was obvious
When the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014, Roman Gach went to the East to defend Ukraine from the enemy. Irina says there was no question whether to go or not.
“The separation was very painful, because we did not know how our life would turn out,” recalls his wife. “And at that time I only found out that I was expecting a second child. What I felt was not to convey. But the man always said: “Kitty, everything will be fine.” He returned in 2015 on March 8. And on March 22, our second boy was born. We called him Vladislav. The birth of a child helped the man to survive at that time all the evil, the horror that befell him in the East.”
Since then, the family has been happy with the children. They thought everything was over. But in 2019, Roman was again called to duty in the East. We went to the place of duty together.
“I didn't even think that Roman would go alone,” Irina recalls. “We are a family and should be together, support each other. Since he was committed to his cause, we saw even less of him. Then I decided to go and defend Ukraine as well. Most importantly, I was able, at least a little more to see my husband, because at home there were still children waiting for him, whom he did not ignore, never said that he was tired or wanted to rest. On the contrary, he sat down and helped with his studies, gave the right male advice for later life, tried to spend leisure time with us. Every weekend we tried to go to church. Every summer they went on vacation to their parents. And on the way they drove to the sea, because they wanted to see the children a little. As far as possible, Christmas was also celebrated together with the whole family. It was one of our traditions. We tried to celebrate the birthday of each of us together, with the family. We almost never sat down to dinner without Dad in the evening, no matter what time he came. In general, our family traditions are to do everything together. This is a real family.”
In February, as usual, he said: “Everything will be fine”
The full-scale invasion of Russia did not bypass every family of servicemen. At that time, Roman Gach's family was in the epicenter of heavy fighting.
“Thank God, the children were saved,” says Irina. “At that time I thought the worst thing that could happen was that we would not have time to save our children. I was sure that my Roma would live, and everyone who was around, too. When the children were safe, he and I talked about it all having to end. And God willing, on March 8, he will come to me with flowers and a cake. We have not yet had time to move away from past events, from all that horror, very terrible news has come. They killed not only my husband, but me along with him. As promised, he came to me on March 8. But not alone. He was brought in a coffin. And no one will tell me that everything will be fine. This is a great loss for our family. My husband is a hero because people like him are very rare in life. He is an example for the younger generation so that they understand that a soldier is not just a name, but a great job and, above all, a person on whom the life and tranquility of all Ukrainians depend.
Roman Gach demonstrated by his example what an officer should be like
The fact that Roman Gach devoted himself as much as possible to the work and protection of Ukraine is also confirmed by his brothers. Colonel Vadim Zakladny has known the man since 2002. Then they served together in the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky border detachment. Vadim tells that Roman Gach came as a lieutenant: he was concerned about the service and worried about the personnel.
“Since then, we have been in different parts of the border, but we met again in 2014,” says Vadim. - I was the commander of the operational and combat border command post “Belgorod-Dnestrovsky” of the State Border Service. Roman Gach was my first deputy at the time. We served together in the Luhansk region. You know, I've never met a better officer. I never regretted that he was my deputy. Roman was a decent, cultured and experienced man. By his example, he demonstrated what an officer should be. I was able to leave the curfew when I left for the forward positions without any problems. Roman performed his duties perfectly.”
On March 8, 2015, there was a rotation. These days, his wife gave birth to a second son. Vadim Zakladny became the godfather of the guy.
“You know, until then I didn't have any crusaders. And something was not complete in me,” Vadim admits. “Roman offered me to become a kuma. You can't imagine how I cheated. It was an honor for me to baptize Vladislav. This is my only crusader.”
When Roman died, I was on the front line. On March 22, I congratulated the godfather on his birthday and could not say that Dad was no longer there
According to Vadim Zakladny in March this year, the person closest to him died.
“Roman's family turned out to be much stronger than mine,” Vadim Zakladny admits. “On the sixth of March, Roman died, and on March 22 I congratulated his son on his birthday. Then I was on the front lines. I said that I would buy everything Vladislav wanted, but I could not say that Dad was no longer there. So now I have given the word that he must remain alive to raise his children. Give the kind of upbringing that Roman Gach wanted. Children should be proud that their father is a patriot and never forgive Russians for being orphans.”
My brother is convinced that Roman Gach deserves the title of Hero. After all, in his last battle, he drove people out of the environment and saved his subordinates with his life. The battle is told in the Luhansk border detachment, where Roman Gach served for the last time.
“Since February 24, under the leadership of Roman in cooperation with units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, our defenders have repeatedly become an example of courage and heroism in the fight against the overwhelming forces of the enemy, - says Tetiana Letoshko, spokeswoman of the Luhansk border detachment. - In the fighting for the settlements of Luhansk region, common efforts managed to destroy a large amount of enemy manpower and more than one unit of equipment. Roman Gach together with his brethren held back the advance of the overwhelming forces of the Russian horde in the Luhansk region. In the early days of the war, the border guards had the task of preventing the advance of enemy troops. The defenders, led by Colonel Gah, were the first to take fire on themselves and immediately entered the battle. It was necessary to maintain the defense on a defined border under the dense fire of the enemy. However, despite the constant shelling and the numerical superiority of the Rashists, the border guards skillfully held the occupied positions for more than six hours. During the long confrontation, Colonel Roman Gach from the machine gun line received severe wounds incompatible with life. At the highest cost, he saved the lives of his brethren: heroically and bravely, standing to the last and looking the enemy in the face without stepping back. This is how courageous border officers defend Ukraine.”
