Re: Ask me about Finnish military
 

Here's an awesome Wiki article on Simo Hayha, a Finnish sniper.

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Before his injury, the Russians tried several plans to get rid of him, including counter snipers and artillery strikes. Their best result was tearing the back of his coat away with shrapnel, but leaving Häyhä himself unscratched.

On March 6, 1940, Häyhä was shot in the jaw during close combat. The bullet tumbled upon impact and left his head. He was picked up by fellow soldiers who said "half his head was missing". He regained consciousness on March 13, the day peace was declared. Shortly after the war, Häyhä was promoted straight from lance corporal to second lieutenant by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim. No-one else has ever gained rank in such a dramatic fashion in Finland's military history.

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Balla.

Re: Ask me about Finnish military
 

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off topic, but is Tero going to shape up tomorrow and win it for Suomi?

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LDO.

Re: Ask me about Finnish military
 

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For those of you taking the piss out of the Finnish military, they fought on the German side in WWII against Russia. In 1944 Russia invaded Finland. This was when the Russian military machine was awesome. The Finns fought them off and won their independence. Pretty impressive stuff.

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Not quite. Finland became independent after WWI. However, it did get invaded by the USSR in the winter of 1939-40 and fought them back without any real outside assistance, so it's still pretty baller.

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Incorrect. The Finnish Continuation War lasted from 1941-1944 and they roundly defeated the Soviets in the last major battle which led to a peace treaty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tali-Ihantala

They then had to fight another war to kick the Germans out, which they did. Baller.

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Okay, I'll give you that it assured or returned independence, but Finland first became independent on January 3, 1918.

I'm glad we're in agreement over the ballerness of this, though.