Dmitriy Loza is a Hero of the Soviet Union, the USSR's highest designation for bravery, and he was decorated for his role in the capture of Vienna. He served in a brigade that fought in the Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Manchuria. He now resides in Moscow. James F. Gebhardt is a defense contractor at Fort Leavenworth. He is the translator of Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks: The World War II Memoirs of Hero of the Soviet Union Dmitriy Loza (Nebraska 1996).

" ... in this book the author examines aspects of the Red Army's organization and combat performance in a series of discrete chapters... [it] contains valuable insights into issues as diverse as medical treatment, combat vehicle maintenance and command styles in the Soviet armed forces of 1941-45. These are important topics, and the dearth of reliable first hand accounts in English from the former Soviet Union makes the book particularly important."--The Wish Stream, Summer 1999