He escaped prison three times and made his way to the United States where he enlisted in the U.S. Army as a private. These unconventional warfare warriors had to be able to master critical military skills needed to train and lead guerrilla warriors, to be inserted anywhere in the world by any means of transportaion, to survive the most hostile environment, and to take care of themselves and others under the pressures of harsh combat conditions and isolation. He was the eternal soldier. Born Lauri Allan Torne in Finland, in 1919, Thorne would distinguish himself, leading an elite detachment of Finnish ski troops (think James Bond) on raids behind Soviet lines, commanding a Waffen-SS sabotage squad, and unleashing such crippling guerrilla attacks against the Soviets that they put an unheard-of 3 million Finnish mark bounty on his head. He won every medal for bravery that Finland could bestow during the conflict with the Soviet Union. He fought under three flags: Finland (The Finnish Army during the Winter War and Continuation War) Germany (one of the Finnish SS-volunteers) USA (joined the US Army, known as Larry Thorne) Cheers, In 1999, Thorne's remains were found by a Finnish and Joint Task. Each book explores Cascas experience fighting during some different historical era. In June of 1998, the book THE SOLDIER UNDER THREE FLAGS was made available by Pathfinder publishing. Minutes later Major Pyles transmitted the weather conditions were marginal, with clouds below the mountaintops and increasing ground fog. Doctor Dabbs, where do you get your seemingly inexhaustible supply of interesting topics to write about? The all aircraft circled the area looking for a way to get down to the clearing through the thick angry clouds that blanketed the area. He left his home-country to fight for one that was not his native home, but for the men to the left and right of him.". "He was a complex yet driven man who valorously fought oppression under three flags and didn't acknowledge the meaning of quit," said Swindell. Major Larry Alan Thorne is the only former member of the Waffen SS to be found there. A traditional American military officer's burial is to be expected, with trumpets and salutes, says Trni's nephew Juha Rajala, who is also the Vice President of the Lauri Trni Tradition Guild in Finland. Then we made a mold and used it for casting these silver pieces, now used in the sheath of the knives, in the head of Larry Thorne 100 years anniversary knife and series of jewelry. And the legend has begun Growing up, I remember my step dad telling me all about Larry Thorne and the war games they played in. During his first decade of service in the Army, he trained NATO forces in West Germany, and ran a sabotage and reconnaissance school for the 10th Special Warfare Group. Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica! When he returned, he was then arrested by the Finns, even though he had received their Medal of Honor and was sentenced to six years in prison for treason.. His family believes he is still alive, even considering he was 70 years old this year (1989). He is the only veteran of the Waffen SS interred in this hallowed space. Changed his name to Larry Thorne, From the Finnish lakes, "To negotiate with senior Vietnamese colonels about sites, cost to the U.S. government, and to brief U.S. Embassy officials on my teams' presence, as a captain, was pretty exciting. During one particularly intense attack on CIDG forces at Tjnh Bien he earned a Bronze Star for Valor. Thorne joined the U.S. Army and his expertise in guerrilla warfare led him into the Special Forces Group, where he was commissioned a first lieutenant, eventually rising to the rank of captain and commanding a Special Forces team in Vietnam, before joining SOG. Cross of Mannerheim, addicted to the wargame However, in 1999 a Joint Task Force-Full Accounting team along with Finnish personnel located his crash site. According to Helsingin Sanomat, his injuries allowed him to return to the rear away from combat. In 1964, Larry Thorne served his first 6-month tour of duty in South Vietnam. Abercrombie Hunter Thompson. Lauri Allan Trni (28 May 1919 - 18 October 1965), later known as Larry Alan Thorne, was a Finnish-American soldier who fought under three flags: as a Finnish Army Second Lieutenant of the Fourth Independent Jger Infantry Battalion against the Soviets in the Winter War and the Soviet-Finnish sub-theater of World War II known as the Continuation He was a recipient of the Mannerheim Cross, Finland's highest award for gallantry in the field. The story begins with the Winter War, which began with the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939, when Lauri Torni fought against attacking Red Army troops. Trni's remains will be buried in the same coffin with those of three other victims of the same helicopter crash. One of Thorne's crowning achievements was during the 1950s when he led a covert mission into the Iran to recover bodies and classified data from a C-130 transport plane that had gone down in the country's largest mountain range. The helicopter crashed on a mountain-top in a severe thuderstorm. Does anyone know how to get in touch with John Voter? While much of the writing is fairly vapid, that was an incredibly cool plot device. The MP40 was the first mass-produced infantry combat weapon to eschew wooden furniture and be designed specifically for mass production. Prior to sentencing, the court heard from two previous victims of Thorne's predatory behavior. He then received comprehensive instruction in his specialty area. Thorne was born in Finland in 1919, and entered military service in 1938 joining the 4th . Petri kept nagging Joakim that he should made a song about Lauri Allan Trni. However, if he survived, he most certainly could have been captured by NVA forces openly operating throughout the region and his fate, like that of other Americans who remain unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, could be quite different. Starting in his homeland Finland, doing some time in Nazi-Germany SS Division, and finally got killed in Laos as a US Army Special Forces member. Larry Alan Thorne was born Lauri Allan Torni in Viipuri, Finland. He has parachuted out of perfectly good airplanes at 3 oclock in the morning and summited Mount McKinley, Alaska, six timesalways at the controls of an Army helicopter, which is the only way sensible folk climb mountains. Many believed he was exactly the sort of near-indestructible soldier who would have simply walked back out of the jungle, and they found it hard to believe he had been killed, Helsingin Sanomat writes. Shortly thereafter, Captain Thorne also released Bird Dog 55 and the Huey gunships to return to base. Following Finland's second defeat to the Russians, Torni was imprisoned by the communists as a war criminal. Special Forces will also organise a tribute to their hero. There are roughly 400,000 veterans and eligible dependents buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He transferred to Samford University's Howard College, where . They became known as some special forces who skied into battle against enemy forces. Thorne was born in Finland in 1919, entered the Finnish army in 1938 and fought in the 1939-40 war against the Soviet Union. He was posthumously promoted to major and is the only American POW/MIA to fight communism under three flags - Finland, Germany and America. But first, he would take part in a daring rescue mission inside Iran. Larry Thorne enlisted in the Army as a private in 1954, but he wasn't your everyday new trainee - he had already spent a majority of his adult life fighting against the Soviets in brutal winter conditions. History, The second H34 dropped through a hole in the clouds to insert a six-man surveillance team. When they climbed back above the cloud cover both Thornes H34 and the Bird Dog were gone. When the Continuation War began, he returned to Finland and again commanded his ski troops. Cross of Mannerheim, an Iron Cross, a Bronze Star, They became friends. Abrams Kimberly Storey. Bella Thorne. Major Larry Thorne was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on June 26, 2003. Friends, family and international officials gathered June 26, 2003, to lay Capt. Thorne enlisted in 1954 as a private, although he'd spent six years fighting World War II as an officer in two different military commands. Oooh we remember, we remember, we remember Roughly five minutes later, while flying in poor visibility and bad weather, the helicopter crashed. But the recovery missions were, hands-down, his favorite assignment. At the time he went missing CPT Thorne was armed with a Swedish Carl Gustav m/45 submachine gun. Lauri Alan Trni. Excellent as always Keep up the good work. As the weather worsened, Larry Thorne continued to orbit D-1 near the landing zone in case RT Iowa ran into trouble. Larry Thorne was awarded the Bronze Star medal for heroism and five Purple Hearts for combat wounds. (Source: Richard Hayse, SFODAs 9 and 7, 1976-1978) The third soldier, a machine-gunner, was recognised from his identification tag. Your choices may vary.. Grow weary? For each sold 100 years anniversary knife we will forward 50 to support Larry Thorne heritage guild. In 1957 he was granted US citizenship and commissioned a 2d Lieutenant in the Signal Corps. After Trni's status was changed from missing in action to presumably killed in action, a memorial service was already organised in Helsinki back in 1967. The Soviets wanted to get their hands on Thorne and forced the Finnish government to arrest him as a German wartime collaborator, the account at Arlington Cemetery.net reads. Larry A. Thorne is the only American POW/MIA to fight communism under three flags - those of Finland, Germany and America. Keep it up ! Source: Compiled in 1989 from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S. Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families, published sources, interviews. But then Germany fell, too, and the Finn-turned-Waffen SS officer was arrested by the British, according to War History Online. I believe that is what he wanted to be and who he was. He later received a regular commission and was promoted to captain in 1960. Thank You for your stories. Staff 5. Rumors swirled that this indestructible warrior had survived the crash of his aircraft and was either actively fighting against the communists or languishing in some secret POW camp. U.S. Air Force Major Harley B. Pyles, pilot; and U.S. Marine Corps Captain Winfield W. Sisson, observer and Marine MACV-SOG air liaison officer; comprised the crew of an O1E Bird Dog, call sign Bird Dog 55, the number 2 aircraft in a flight of two that would coordinate all aircraft involved in inserting RT Iowa. 3. I remember your parents. Thirty of the Finnish Army infantrymen who accompanied Trni on numerous dangerous missions in World War II are still alive, among them Finland's former President Mauno Koivisto. Thorne is a national hero in his birth country of Finland and a military hero in the Capt. Larry Alan Thorne was born on May 28, 1919 and joined the Armed Forces while in Norwalk, Connecticut. Limited 100 pcs Larry Thorne 100 years anniversary knife has individual engraved numbering, 1/100 - 100/100. Name: Larry Alan Thorne As usual outstanding story Dr. Will. Subject: Re: Major Larry A. Thorne Deceased 18 Oct.'65 By the time he has lived a century or two Casca gets very, very good at the art of soldiering. Remanded to a POW camp in Lubeck, Torni ultimately escaped and made his way back to Finland soon after VE Day. Torni found life in Finland difficult after the war and moved to the United States, enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1954 and later gaining citizenship. Answer (1 of 2): Larry Thorne was a US Special Forces Major that died in a helicopter crash 25 miles south of Da Nang in Vietnam. Men who . At the same time, these individuals had to be independent thinkers, able to grasp opportunities and innovate with the materials at hand. Larry is related to Kenneth Thorne and Kenneth E Thorne as . Theyre just bitter and jealous and right. The remains of the Finnish war hero Lauri Trni (also known as Larry Thorne) was buried with full military honors in the Arlington cemetary yesterday. The remains were subsequently identified by the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. According to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the so-called Winter War lasted from 1939 to 1940. Larry Thorne: Headquarters Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Detachment SD 5891, 5th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces with orders to Studies and Observation Group Long Thanh, South. Dr. ISBN : 0-934793-65-4 Trni was a dedicated and brave soldier, and he quickly rose to the rank of captain and took command of a group of ski troops. For almost 35 years, Larry Thorne's whereabouts were unknown until, in 1999, his remains were recovered by a Finnish and Joint Task Force-Full Accounting team who's mission was to search for soldiers who either went MIA or were POWs. Starting in his homeland Finland, doing some time in Nazi-Germany SS Division, and finally got killed in Laos as a US Army Special Forces member. Thank you Dr. Dobbs for bringing Major Larry Thorne into th public eye once again. Intense search efforts were initiated at first light the next morning and continued for the next month, but found not trace of the missing Kingbee, its crew and passenger. At 1745 hours, both FACs departed Kham Duc. Born "Lauri Trni," Thorne fought in Finland's first to last battles with Russia winning the country's equivalent of the . Status in 1973: Killed/Body Not Recovered But instead of surrendering, he joined up with the Nazi German SS to continue his fight against the Soviets. Larry Thorne enlisted in the US Army as a private in 1954, but he was already a war hero. Lauri Allan Trni (28 May 1919 - 18 October 1965), also known as Larry Thorne, was a Finnish Army Captain who led an infantry Company against the Soviet Union in the Finnish Winter and. 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