25. From Lethal Combat to Public Relations
In June 1942, Lyudmila Pavlichenko was severely injured by mortar shell fragments that struck her in the face and head. Stavka, or the Soviet High Command, was not about to let a national heroine perish from lack of adequate medical care in the hard-pressed and besieged Sevastopol if they could do anything about it. Accordingly, they ordered her evacuated by submarine. She recovered from her injuries after about a month in a hospital and was eager to return to the front lines, but her combat career was over.
After her close brush with the Grim Reaper, Soviet authorities decided that with over 300 dead enemies to her name, the lethal Lady Death had fought enough. From then on, they reasoned, she would be more valuable to the national war effort not on the front lines with a sniper rifle in her hands, but as a trainer who prepared other snipers for the rigors of combat. She would be even more valuable in a public relations role, both at home and abroad.