Message from @Alpaca13

Lauri Allan Törni, the one soldier who fought in 3 different wars, under 3 different flags.

Born in Finland, he enlisted in the Finnish Army in 1938, fighting the Soviets during the Winter War, earning several medals for valor and was commissioned to 2nd Lt.

In 1941, he fought the Soviets once more with the Waffen SS on the Finnish and Eastern front until 1944. He was in charge of his own Infantry unit who went deep behind the Soviet lines to wreak havoc. At one point, he inflicted such heavy casualties on Soviet units that the Soviet Army placed a bounty on his head of 3,000,000 Finnish marks.
He was captured by the Allies towards the end of the war, and was released in 1948 after a pardon from the Finnish President.

In 1949, he immigrated to the US, changed his name to Larry Thorne and joined the US Army in 1954. He attended OCS, and various other schools and soon enough, became part of the Special Forces. He fought two tours in Vietnam, one of which with the secretive unit MAC V SOG, running clandestine operations deep behind enemy lines. He earned several medals to include 2 Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star with V.
On 18 October 1965, during a secret mission, his helicopter crashed in a mountainous area 25 miles from Da Nang. Rescue teams were unable to locate the crash site. Shortly after his disappearance, Thorne was promoted to the rank of Major.

His remains were finally found and repatriated in 1999 and was buried in Arlington Cemetery. He became a legend not only in his native country but also within the SOF community, as he was inducted in the US SOCOM Hall of Honor in 2011 amongst many more commemorations.

Justin Burger (Major-GA)

2018-10-09 10:14:51 UTC

2nd class medal of Freedom, 26 July 1940
1st class medal of Freedom, 24 August 1940
3rd class Cross of Liberty, 9 October 1941
4th class Cross of Liberty, 23 May 1942
Mannerheim Cross, 9 July 1944
1st Div. Memorial Cross
Border Jaeger Troops Cross
Defense Forces Bronze Medal
Iron Cross, 2 class, 11 December 1943
Combat Infantry Badge
Master Parachutist Badge
Decorations and medals
Legion of Merit
Distinguished Flying Cross
Bronze Star Medal with "V" device
Purple Heart with oak leaf cluster
Air Medal
Army Commendation Medal
Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal with star
Vietnam Service Medal with two campaign stars
Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal