Lauri Törni

Lauri Allan Törni in the uniform of the Waffen SS

Larry Thorne in US uniform

Lauri Allan Törni (born May 28, 1919 in Viipuri , † October 18, 1965 in Laos ) was a Finnish or American officer and leader of an infantry company in the Winter War and the Continuation War .

Törni fought for the Finnish and German sides against the Soviet Union during the Second World War . In 1941 and 1945 Törni was briefly in the Waffen SS . For his service in World War II, the Finnish government awarded him the Mannerheim Cross on July 9, 1944 . He was also awarded the German Iron Cross (2nd class) on December 11, 1943 .

After the Second World War Törni emigrated to the USA and fought as Larry Thorne for the Americans in the Vietnam War in the Special Forces. Larry Thorne was from the US Army a . a. awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross , Bronze Star , Legion of Merit and twice the Purple Heart . He died in a helicopter crash in Laos in 1965; for political reasons, the official place of death was moved to near Da Nang (Central Vietnam). His remains were only identified in 1999 and cremated in Arlington National Cemetery on June 26, 2003 . In 2004, Törni was voted 52nd in a list of the 100 most important Finnish personalities on the television program Suuret Suomalaiset ("Great Finns").

literature

• J. Michael Cleverley: Born a Soldier, The Times and Life of Larry Thorne , Oct 2008, Booksurge. ISBN 978-1-4392-1437-4 .
• J. Michael Cleverley: Syntynyt Sotilaaksi , November 2003, Otava Publishing Co. ISBN 951-1-18853-4 .
• J. Michael Cleverley: Lauri Törni Yrke Soldat , October 2008, Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Bibliotek. ISBN 978-91-85789-22-1 .
• HA Gill III: The Soldier Under Three Flags , June 1998, Pathfinder publishing. ISBN 0-934793-65-4 .
• Kari Kallonen, Petri Sarjanen: Legenda - Lauri Törni, Larry Thorne , 2004, Revontuli Publishing Co. ISBN 952-5170-38-1 .

Web links

Commons : Lauri Törni  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Arlington National Cemetery: About Lauri Törni (English)