Soldier in Three Armies

Lauri Allan Törni

I had never heard of this soldier before Friday. Born in Finland, he fought the Soviets in the Finnish Army during the Winter War of 1939 to 1940. Finland was defeated by the Soviet Union and had to cede territory to the USSR. (At one point in Finnish history, much of their land was part of the Russian Empire under the Tsars.)

While I had trouble finding out whether or not Vänrikki (2nd lieutenant) Törni had actually been a full-fledged member of the Waffen SS, while undergoing training in Austria in between the Winter War and the German invasion of the Soviet Union, he did wear the uniform of an SS-Untersturmführer (2nd lieutenant) while in training in Vienna. (Center photo.)

When the Germans invaded the USSR in June of 1941, the Finns renewed their war against the Russians, referring to the period between 1941 and 1944 (when the Finns were again forced to sue for peace) as the Continuation War. Vänrikki Törni again fought Communists. Apparently he was not a fan. (Note that for the Finns, the Continuation War was simply a continuation of their earlier war against Soviet aggression.)

After the Finns dropped out of the war Törni continued to fight against the Soviets, this time as part of a German unit. He may have worn the SS uniform during this time period, I can't say. At that point in the war things in Germany were literally falling apart. Scratch units were formed from whatever material (men and equipment) was available. Some units of old men and Hitler Youth had nothing more than an armband to mark them as soldiers.

When the war ended Törni returned to Finland and was imprisoned for "treason." (The Soviets had a lot of influence in Finland after the war.) He escaped from prison a number of times but was eventually pardoned by president of Finland. (One future Finnish president had served in Törni's unit during the war.)

Törni emigrated to the United States, becoming a carpenter, also becoming known as Larry Thorne. Apparently he found civilian life boring so he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private. He entered the Special Forces, rose to captain and eventually found himself in Vietnam where he advised South Vietnamese units and continued to fight communists.

His luck ran out in 1965 when the helicopter he was aboard crashed in mountainous terrain in bad weather. His remains were eventually recovered in 1999 and he was eventually laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery along with the remains of three of his Vietnamese soldiers. He was posthumously promoted to major.

(Source)

In the 1990s, Törni's name became better known as a war hero, with numerous books being written about him. He was named 52nd in the Suuret Suomalaiset listing of famous Finns; in the 2006 Suomen Sotilas (Soldier of Finland) magazine listing, he was elected most courageous of the Mannerheim Cross recipients.

In Finland, the survivors, friends, and families of Detachment Törni formed the Lauri Törni Tradition Guild. The Infantry Museum (Jalkaväkimuseo) in Mikkeli, Finland, has an exhibit dedicated to Törni, as does the Military Museum of Finland in Helsinki.

Even before his death, Thorne's name was legendary in US Special Forces. His US memorial is the Larry Thorne Headquarters Building, 10th SFG(A), Fort Carson, Colorado. 10th Group honors him yearly by presenting the Larry Thorne Award to the best Operational Detachment-Alpha in the command. The Special Forces Association Chapter 33 in Cleveland, Tennessee is named after him. (Source)

A man I thought you should know.

Sources:
https://imgur.com/gallery/UjlwO
http://www.badassoftheweek.com/index.cgi?id=32651874379
https://www.pownetwork.org/bios/t/t375.htm
https://drloriputerbaugh.wordpress.com/2015/10/10/lodge-act-soldiers/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauri_T%C3%B6rni