Your favourite national war heroes?

[OldRecon]

Saw this pic in an entry above under this tread of a brave woman fighter on the republican side of the Spanish civil war:


Wonder, isn't the guy in the middle of the picture the communist army commander "El Campesino"?

She did not fight with the anarchist or the POUM then?

[Loco]

Yes, he´s Valentín González El Campesino(The Peasant), a controverted man.
None of the three woman were in POUM raised militias. In the case of Rosita Sánchez, you can see the star(sure red) she has over her breast. POUM was a troskist party, lately persecuted by orthodox PC. El Campesino was member of PC(being in Soviet Union after CWar he break with PC, but that´s other story), so it would be unlikely he was peacefully beaside a POUM member in what was probably a propaganda photo. BTW, in republican side there were women in all kind of popular militias created both by socialist, comunist, troskists, anarchists.

[[AFSOC]]

here's my favourites

[ArmedPacifist]

It was Johnny Canuck.

[[AFSOC]]

Johnny Canuck and Captain Canuck are the same....

[ArmedPacifist]

]Johnny Canuck and Captain Canuck are the same....

lies

[DE_Six]

Major Paul Triquet, VC, CD



Sole French-speaking VC recipient of WWII. His feats of arms at Casa Berardi stand among Canada's greatest.

For his citation, you're going to have to translate from French. Royal 22e Regiment is French-speaking and proud of it!

http://www.r22er.com/fr/recipiendaire/triquetfr.html

The "Vandoos" VC recipients also include :

Caporal Joseph Kaeble, VC, MM

http://www.r22er.com/fr/recipiendaire/keablefr.html

Lieutenant Jean Brillant, VC, MC

http://www.r22er.com/fr/recipiendaire/brillantfr.html

From Stateside:

A hero from one of the most "fertile" hero-breeding unit: MACV-SOG

Col. Robert L. Howard



One of America's most decorated soldier. Submitted three times for MOH, got it on the third. He couldn't care less about it, though.

His citation:
http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/cita..._a_howard.html

To learn more about Howard, John Plaster's book "SOG" is highly recommended.

[mustamato]

Just two more...

Harry Järv, a recon-soldier in the finnish army during the war, belonged to the swedish minority, he had a camera with him all the time and took a lot of pictures with it. Lost a leg when he stepped on a mine. Has written a lot of books and stuff after the war. Harry Järv will be portraied in the new upcoming finnish warmovie...


Harry Järv with his camera and trusty KP31 submachine gun

And some pictures he took with it


Recon patrol during the winter


Ragnar Östman was shot in the chest by a enemy sniper 7th march
1943, and is here taken care of by his comrades


Already the 12th of june the first confrontation with the sniper (that
shot Ragnar Östman) and his two securing squads came. Allan Finholm
is first to charge, closely followed by Bertel Söderman, but the enemy
fled immediately and dissapeared before there even was a firefight.


Karl Rosenlöf sneaking. By using extreme caution Järvs soldiers always
managed to sneak past the Red Army posts.

Orvar Nilsson, swedish volunteer in Finland during the war from the first beginning during the winter war until the armistice in 1944. Has after the war, just as Harry Järv been a writer and so forth...


"With Finland for Sweden, join the swedish volunteer corps"-advertise,
over 8000 swedes were sent as volunteers to Finland during the Winter
War of 1939-40


Orvar Nilsson as a Lieutenant at the Jandeba-front during the Continuation
War 1941-44


Orvar Nilsson awarded the cross of liberty, second class.

[fantassin]

I am surprised to see that MSG GORDON wears the French mountain qualification badge over his right pocket.

It's in the shape of a mountain bird called the "Choucas" in French that holds a blue star (the symbol of mountain recce units) in its claws.

I wonder where he got that one....even though many foreign line and special units come to France for mountain training.

[Gauntlet]

The Finnish Alpine Ski Patrols are awsome!! Those fellas took out tank divisions from the Soviets, like 10 of them! In fact it was the Finns who inspired to US to create the 10th Mountain.

[Gauntlet]

Just two more...

Harry Järv will be portraied in the new upcoming finnish warmovie...

Cool. Can you show me where I can find out more about this movie. I'm a WWII buff and I think it'll be cool to see Finnish and Swedish soldiers because... well... How many movies out there are based on the Finnish invasion? It'll be interesting.

[RealUltimatePower]

GARY COLEMAN!!!

[mustamato]

Just two more...

Harry Järv will be portraied in the new upcoming finnish warmovie...

Cool. Can you show me where I can find out more about this movie. I'm a WWII buff and I think it'll be cool to see Finnish and Swedish soldiers because... well... How many movies out there are based on the Finnish invasion? It'll be interesting.

Previous and main finnish warmovies (there are more but nothing that comes up in my mind right now):

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048752/ (from 1955, classic, but old and too patriotic)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090215/ (newer version, recommended)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098437/ (Winter war, very recommended
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162625/ (too much Hollywood, but a good time-killer)

________________________________________________

About this upcoming warmovie. I don´t know that much about it. But I found some pictures from the making of the movie.

http://koti.mbnet.fi/%7Ejkt/index.php


One of the russian squads


Maxim


Finn with Panzerfaust


Finnish heavy mortar, those are probably soldiers dressed up like
actors


... same thing here, but with 81 mm mortar instead, they
fired live rounds with them so these are definitively trained
professionals and not actors.


Finnish rifleman


Part of a finnish platoon

[fantassin]

This man was an outstanding officer.

Raoul Charles MAGRIN-VERNEREY, better known under the pseudonym MONCLAR, was an outstanding warrior, the true type of the Foreign Legion officer as shown in legends and popular literature. Born on February 7, 1892, in Budapest, he attended high school at the Lycée Victor Hugo in Besançon and at the Omans seminary. At fifteen and a half, he ran away from home and enlisted in the Foreign Legion. This first contact was short lived due to his very young age.

Entering Saint Cyr in 1912, he graduated in 1914 with the Montmirail class, was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant on August 5 of that same year, joined the 60th Infantry Regiment and ended the war with the rank of Captain. He was then “Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur” with eleven citations, including seven in the order of the Army, had been wounded seven times and was 90 percent disabled from the service.

Assigned to the Middle-East, he assumed command of various posts or Syrian units. Two new citations were awarded to that uncommon officer who had demonstrated extreme bravery.


In 1931, he was again assigned to the Foreign Legion and did not leave it until October 1941. Within that time, he was assigned to the 2nd Foreign Legion Infantry Regiment in Morocco, then joined the 5th Foreign Legion Infantry Regiment in the Tonkin.

On May 13, 1940, in Bjervik, Norway, the 13th Half Brigade fought its first battle, relentlessly conquered four objectives, forced the enemy to run away, leaving behind numerous prisoners, automatic weapons, countless equipment and up to 10 twin-engine aircraft.

From May 28 to June 2, Lieutenant Colonel MAGRIN-VERNEREY and his legionnaires won in Narvik what was called the only French victory of 1939-1940. A victory which won them a citation to the order of the Free French Forces with the award of the “Croix de Guerre” with palm for liberating 60 allied prisoners, for capturing 590 German soldiers and for seizing eight guns as well as a large quantity of equipment.

He had just returned to France when Lieutenant Colonel MAGRIN-VERNERY, along with 500 of his men, joined the Free French Forces in England on June 21, 1940. Promoted to the rank of Colonel, he then adopted the name of MONCLAR (from the name of the village of Monclar in the department of Tarn et Garonne).

While participating in the operations led against the forces of the Axis in Africa, it is he who, as the commander of the Orient French Brigade in Eritrea, seized Massaoua, made 9 general officers, 440 officers and 14000 Italians prisoners.

Having been appointed Deputy Commanding General of the French troops in Algeria as of 1946, he was, in 1948, Inspector of the Foreign Legion units. During almost two years, he took numerous trips wherever the Foreign Legion units were stationed and fought, in Algeria, Morocco, Madagascar and Indochina.

In 1950, as Lieutenant General, on the eve of his retirement, he exchanged his stars for the stripes of a Lieutenant Colonel in order to be able to fight voluntarily as the commander of the French battalion made available to the United Nations in Korea.

Having reached the age limit, he returned to France in 1951 and, in 1952, succeeding General Kientz, he became Governor of the Invalides.

Lieutenant General MAGRIN-VERNEREY was the recipient of numerous medals including the “Médaille Militaire”, the “Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur”, the 1914-1918 and the 1939-1945 “Croix de Guerre”, the Legion of Merit with the rank of officer, the Silver Star, the Military Cross and other numerous foreign decorations. He was wounded seven times, was the recipient of 22 citations and 100 percent disabled.
[/b]

[Uninen]

Did somebody already mention Lauri Törni aka Larry Thorne..


Lauri Törni aka Larry Thorne.

War hero for Finnish Long range patrols in ww2, Hero for Waffen-ss in ww2 and hero for MACV-SOG of US in Nam.

(Went MIA in Nam.. )

Larry Alan Thorne was born Lauri Allan Torni in Viipuri, Finland. (Link..)

As a young adult, he enlisted in the Finish Army where he obtained the rank of Captain. During the early years of World War II, he developed, trained and commanded the Finish ski troops. Under his strict and demanding leadership, the ski troops fought the Russians deep behind enemy lines for extended periods of time. During Finland's wars against the former Soviet Union, he was awarded every medal for bravery that Finland could bestow including the Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, which is the equivalent of the American Congressional Medal of Honor. After Finland fell to the communists, Capt. Torni joined the German SS in order to continue fighting the communists. After World War II, Lauri Torni made his way to the United States where he enlisted in the US Army under the Lodge Bill. After completing basic training, Larry Thorne was selected for the budding Special Forces program. He quickly rose through the ranks, and with the assistance of allies within the military, received a commission. In 1964, Larry Thorne served his first 6-month tour of duty in South Vietnam.

In February 1965, then Capt. Larry Thorne returned to Long Thanh, South Vietnam for his second tour of duty. While assigned to Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam; Capt. Thorne was instrumental in establishing the standard operating procedures employed by the fledgling Studies and Observation Group, better known by its acronym "MACV-SOG."