Tuhia he haere tonu mo tenei whitianga - I uru a Vertelko ki te ope Whero i te Oketopa 1943, i te tuatahi i whakangungu ki te 72nd Reserve Training Rifle Regiment o te 9th Rifle Division. I muri mai ka mahara ia i te tuatahi i oati ia i te 3 o Noema 1943. I te otinga o tana whakangungu, i tukuna ia ki te mua i te Poutu-te-rangi 1944, i mahi ia hei kaitirotiro i te 75th Motorcycle Reconnaissance Battalion o te 29th Tank Corps, me te 5th Guards Tank Army. I mawhiti tata ia i te wa i tukuna ai e tetahi hoa ki te whakawhiti i nga rori ki a ia i mua i te whakaekenga a Tiamana. I patua e tētahi pōro te rākau o Vertelko i mua, i mate ai te tangata i whakawhitingahia e ia. I haere a Vertelko ki te kite i nga mahi i roto i te maha o nga pakanga i te wa i peia ai e te ope Whero nga ope nohoanga. I whakawhiwhia ki a ia te Tohu "Mo te maia" i muri i te whakaoranga o Minsk, ka haere ki te uru atu ki nga pakanga o te whakaeke a Vilnius
, i puta ai te whakaoranga o Molodechno, Borisov, Kaunas, me Vilnius.