Lauri Allan Törni (Larry Alan Thorne) fought under three flags: Finland, WW2 Germany, and the United States. He joined the Finnish Army in 1938, rising quickly to the rank of captain and commanding ski troops that operated deep behind Soviet lines during the Winter War and Continuation War. He earned Finland’s highest military award, the Mannerheim Cross, for extraordinary bravery and effectiveness against the Red Army.​ In June 1941, Törni trained for seven weeks with the Waffen-SS in Vienna an