Lauri Törni, a Finnish soldier, was born in 1919 and grew up on the Soviet border. He joined the Finnish Army at 19 and became an expert in sabotage and guerrilla warfare. During World War II, he fought against the Soviet Union, earning numerous awards, including the Mannerheim Cross. After the war, he joined the German Army, but when Germany surrendered, he escaped to Finland, where he was arrested, tried for treason, and sentenced to prison. He escaped, fled to Sweden, and eventually made his way to the United States, where he joined the US Army under the name Larry Thorne. Thorne became a Green Beret and served in Vietnam, earning two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. He was killed in action in 1965, but his remains were not discovered until over 30 years later. He was posthumously promoted to Major and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, and his name is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Lauri Törni was born in Viipuri, Finland on May 28th, 1919.
2. At the age of 19, Lauri joined the Finnish 4th Independent Jaeger Infantry Battalion.
3. The battalion was a Sissi unit that specialized in sabotage, guerrilla warfare, and long-range reconnaissance.
4. Lauri fought in the Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1939-1940.
5. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant during the war.
6. In 1941, Lauri trained with the Waffen-SS in Austria for seven weeks.
7. He was given the rank of Untersturmführer or Junior Storm Leader in the Waffen-SS.
8. Lauri fought in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944.
9. He was awarded the Mannerheim Cross, Finland's highest military honor, on July 9th, 1944.
10. After the war, Lauri joined the Finnish Resistance to prepare for a potential Soviet occupation.
11. In 1945, he escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany and made his way back to Finland.
12. Lauri was arrested and tried for treason in 1946, but was pardoned and released from prison in 1948.
13. He moved to Sweden in 1949 and later worked on a Swedish cargo ship.
14. In 1950, Lauri jumped ship in the United States and began working as a carpenter and cleaner.
15. In 1954, he joined the US Army under the name "Larry Thorne".
16. Larry was stationed in West Germany from 1958 to 1962, where he got into trouble for getting into a bar fight.
17. He was transferred to the 10th Special Forces Group and taught skiing, survival mountaineering, and guerrilla tactics.
18. In 1962, Larry was sent to Iran to destroy top-secret material in a crashed US plane.
19. In 1963, he was sent to South Vietnam to assist in the formation of local CIDG units.
20. Larry was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for bravery in a firefight near the Cambodian border.
21. He volunteered for a second tour of duty in Vietnam and was put in command of a top-secret Special Forces Unit called MACV-SOG.
22. On October 18th, 1965, Larry's helicopter crashed in the mountains, and he was killed.
23. His remains went undiscovered for over 30 years.
24. Larry was promoted to Major posthumously and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
25. His name is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC.
26. In 2003, his remains were brought back to America and buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.