Man Sabaton was awesome last night. The guys were all charismatic, joking around, having fun, Joacim Broden is a damn awesome frontman, and the performance of the band was spot on. Even my dad, whos not a metalhead was impressed by them. The three opening bands were locals, 2 of them straight up sucked, one was decent, but Sabaton totally made up for the crappy ones. I knew they were touring for the new album, and I correctly guessed that theyd play Resist and Bite and To Hell and Back, but I really hoped theyd play this song, and, sure enough, they did! This song is about Finnish soldier and certified badass Lauri Torni, who fought the Russians when they invaded Finland(the Russians wanted him dead so badly they put a $400k bounty on him), then when Finland surrended, Torni didnt agree with that decision, so he joined up with the Nazis to KEEP fighting the Russians. After WW2 ended, he was imprisoned(and escaped 3 times), before finally being pardoned. After his release, he came to the US, where he changed his name to Larry Thorne and joined our army, eventually becoming one of the first Green Berets, where he not only served, but taught guerrilla warfare tactics, skiing, winter survival, and mountaineering. He eventually died in a helicopter crash, still fighting Russian backed forces, in Vietnam. Over his career he received the Cross of Mannerheim(the Finnish equivalent of the Medal of Honor), the Iron Cross, 2 Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. The Infantry Museum in Mikkeli, Finland, has an exhibit dedicated to him, as does the Military Museum of Finland in Helsinki. In the U.S., the Larry Thorne Headquarters Building, 10th SFG(A), Fort Carson, Colorado is named for him, and 10th Group honors him yearly by presenting the Larry Thorne Award to the best Operational Detachment-Alpha in the command. Additionally, the Special Forces Association Chapter 33 in Cleveland, Tennessee is named after him, and in 2010 he was named as the first Honorary Member of the United States Army Special Forces Regiment.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 12:41:33 +0000