Born on July 24, 1916, in the city of Tomsk, into a working-class family. He was Ossetian. From 1929, his family lived in Moscow. After graduating from high school, he studied in Leningrad at the Institute of Water Transport.
He joined the Red Army in 1936. In 1938, he graduated from the Yeisk Naval Aviation School for naval pilots. He participated in the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939-1940.
Service in the Great Patriotic War
From June 1941, he was on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, fighting as part of the 13th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Air Force of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet.
On July 19, 1941, Tsokolaev, paired with Leonovich, flew in their I-16s on a reconnaissance mission. Their goal was to locate a Finnish coastal defense battleship hidden in the skerries. They did not find the battleship, but, attacked by enemy fighters, they engaged in combat and each shot down one “Fokker D-21”.
On November 5, 1941, Tsokolaev shot down another Finnish aircraft; this time, his victim was an H-75 fighter. By April 1942, Squadron Commander of the 4th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Guards Senior Lieutenant G.D. Tsokolaev, had completed 309 combat sorties.
In 38 aerial battles, he personally shot down 6 and in a group 11 enemy aircraft. By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on June 14, 1942, for exemplary performance of combat missions and for the courage and heroism shown, Gennady Dmitrievich Tsokolaev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star Medal (No. 651).
Post-War Career and Legacy
In 1944, he graduated from the Higher Officer Courses at the Naval Academy. Doctors forbade the fighter pilot, who had been wounded multiple times in combat, from flying. Guards Lieutenant Colonel G.D. Tsokolaev transitioned to a ground control point.
During the war years, Tsokolaev completed over 500 successful combat sorties. He attacked enemy troops and equipment over 100 times, destroyed 10 boats with their crews in the Baltic Sea, shot down 26 enemy aircraft in aerial battles, and conducted 82 reconnaissance missions deep behind enemy lines.
From 1958, Lieutenant Colonel G.D. Tsokolaev was in the reserve. He worked at a factory in the city of Ordzhonikidze (now Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia). On July 13, 1976, G.D. Tsokolaev died in a car accident.
In the city of Vladikavkaz, a bust of the Hero has been erected, and one of the city’s streets is named after him. He was awarded 2 Orders of Lenin, 2 Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals.