Roy T. Kosonen
Funeral for a Great Anti-Communist Crusader
Wed Jun 18 22:09:31 2003
208.152.73.79

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Funeral for a Great Anti-Communist Crusader
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 20:58:04 -0400 (EDT)
From: yggsson@webtv.net  (Roy Kosonen)
To: apfn@apfn.org
CC: v_wallenius365@msn.com


Dear APFN:

On June 26, the remains of a veteran who disappeared during the
Vietnam War, and who was only recently positively identified through DNA
testing, will be interred with full military honors at Arlington
Cemetery. What is unique about him, is that he fought against Communism
in the armies of three countries: his native Finland, Germany and the
U.S. He won the Mannerheim Cross (Finland's highest medal of valor,
equivalent to the US Congressional Medal of Honor), the German Iron
Cross, and various US medals, for his bravery in combat. He died as a
Captain in the US Army Special Forces, and was posthumously promoted to
Major. John Wayne supposedly played a character based on him in the
1968 movie, The Green Berets. He is a national hero in his native
Finland, but is barely known here in America, outside of Special Forces
circles.

So, who was this remarkable man? His name was Lauri Alan Torni
(Lauri is Finnish for "Lawrence", and rhymes with "dowry", and there is
an "Umlaut" over the "o" in his last name, which rhymes with "gurney").

When he joined the US Army, he Americanized his name to Larry Thorne.
Anyway, you can read all about his amazing heroic exploits at the
following three websites:

http://www.geocities.com/sf_chapter_33/thorne.htm

http://www.helsinki-hs.net/thisweek/38011999.html

http://www.lauritorni.com

Note, in the first of the websites above, that there is a beautiful
image of his Mannerheim Cross. Don't be alarmed by the gold Swastika
contained in this medal: the Swastika is an ancient Finnish symbol and
was considered a symbol of Finland's freedom, and had nothing to do with
National Socialist Germany. It appears in quite a few Finnish war
medals, and also in folk art.

I don't know if the funeral will be private or public, but for
further info, readers wishing to attend or send their condolences, can
contact Charlie Norton at: cvnorton@erols.com
Clyde Sincere at: sincere@partriot.net

Also, a book about Larry Thorne's exploits can be purchased from
Amazon.com for $14.95. It is entitled Soldier Under Three Flags.

I highly recommend it!
Respectfully submitted by:
Roy T. Kosonen