The almanac is dedicated to one of the most tragic pages in the history of the country - the life and struggle of the Soviet people in the most difficult, seemingly inhuman, conditions of besieged Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945. People, according to the enemy's plan, were to be destroyed or simply die out of hunger, disappear. The almanac is published on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade (2014) and the 70th anniversary of the Victory (2015) of the Soviet people in the most terrible war in the entire history of mankind. The previous three volumes of the almanac consisted of separate chapters, stories - memories of various participants in the Great Patriotic War. This volume, in an abridged version, is based on individual chapters from the unpublished book “In Memory of the Living” by Ya.M. Vyugin, a front-line soldier, a participant in three wars: the Finnish War of 1939, the Second Patriotic War and the Japanese War of 1941–1945. Since the career military man collected the most interesting, rich “material” about his fellow soldiers - the pilots of the 12th Red Banner Separate Fighter Aviation Squadron (KOIAE) of the Baltic Fleet, it was decided to devote the entire volume to his memories. Numerous, including unique, photographs, documents and memories of fellow soldiers are presented. The book is of interest both to front-line soldiers and their descendants, and to historians. In order to preserve the names of our heroic ancestors, whose courage and valor led to the Victory over fascism, in order to instill in the younger generation a high sense of patriotism and pride in their heroic past, we publish almanacs “Altar of the Fatherland”. Descendants need this.