In which conflict did Danutė Stanelienė serve and gain recognition?

Danutė Stanelienė (20 April 1922 – 8 August 1994) was a machine gunner in the 167th Infantry Regiment of the 16th Lithuanian Rifle Division during World War II. On 24 March 1945, she became the first woman to be awarded the Order of Glory 1st class.

Stanelienė first saw combat in the Battle of Kursk in Panskaya village, where she gained respect from her colleagues for her techniques and patience. She would not immediately open fire on the enemy but instead waited for the enemy to advance closer before opening fire. In an engagement on 16 July 1943, three of her fingers were torn off by shrapnel from enemy fire but she continued firing on enemy infantry despite her injuries and stayed at her post until another soldier came to take over. While recovering in the hospital, she was awarded the Medal "For Courage".

For her actions in an engagement in the village of Rodnye, she was awarded the Order of Glory 3rd class on 3 January 1944.

After the end of the war, Stanelienė was demobilized from the Red Army with the rank of starshina and worked for a local district committee of the Communist Party and later the Council of Ministers in Vilnius before managing the human resources department of a plastics factory. She participated in the 1970 Victory Day Parade in Moscow and was assigned to walk in the front row of marchers with other recipients of the Order of Glory 1st Class. She died at the age of 72 in Vilnius and was buried in the Saltoniškės cemetery.