Finland's ties with the Minnesota Wild?

[Puhis]

Some of them are just plain badass.

Like the White Death. Over 500 sniper kills during the winter war with a plain old rifle. Got his face shot up and lived through it. One of the toughest S.O.B.'s I've ever read about. You'd have to tone down his kill count if you made a movie about him just to keep it within suspension of disbelief range for the audience.

Ah yes, Simo Häyhä (good luck with the spelling). There's supposedly a movie coming out on him, about time, too. It's really amazing how he got 500+ confirmed sniper kills along with hundreds of SMG kills. With no scope, because of freeze, glare and trust issues. Just a true Finnish hero. He got shot in the face, with an exploding bullet, and lived to 96.

Still, I'd say the greatest "forgotten" heroes are those in the homefront. The wives and children of the soldiers, who kept the nation running and fed the families, even with uncertainty of their future or whether daddy will ever return home. My grandfather (from mother's side) served in the war as part of the artillery brigade. I never got to meet him personally (he died in '85), but my mother always said how he was gradually becoming more and more of a broken man, but still tried his hardest to raise and feed all six children. Having been to the farm they grew up in, located some 20 miles outside Joensuu in North Karelia, I must say it's a whole different environment. Only in recent years have I found completely new admiration to my mother and grandparents for their hardships and how they soldiered on, despite having to endure terrible things and general poverty.

 

[W75]

Next we need some Apulanta, Happoradio, Kotiteollisuus and Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus.

Wow! A virtual high five!

 

[W75]

Still, I'd say the greatest "forgotten" heroes are those in the homefront. The wives and children of the soldiers, who kept the nation running and fed the families, even with uncertainty of their future or whether daddy will ever return home. My grandfather (from mother's side) served in the war as part of the artillery brigade. I never got to meet him personally (he died in '85), but my mother always said how he was gradually becoming more and more of a broken man, but still tried his hardest to raise and feed all six children. Having been to the farm they grew up in, located some 20 miles outside Joensuu in North Karelia, I must say it's a whole different environment. Only in recent years have I found completely new admiration to my mother and grandparents for their hardships and how they soldiered on, despite having to endure terrible things and general poverty.

Yeah this. My roots are also from Karelia and North Karelia. Grandpa was originally from Helsinki though. He never talked about the War. I knew he was wounded though. From a machine gun fire that hit his legs when he was chopping some firewood. During the time he was hospitalized, grandpa and grandma got married. But he had to return to the battlefront after that. He survived.

Just once, as a kid, me and my younger brother asked him, like how it was in a war? It was the only time he told something to us. It's not hard to guess they weren't all nice things and plain heroic acts. He actually burst into tears when told what happened to some of his buddies.

Later I was told that grandpa was also hospitalized some time after the war. He rested in a mental institute for a good while. But it was so sensitive thing that nobody talked about it in our family. Today I'm ashamed that these things were kept secret back then. It's not a thing family should be ashamed. What happened was something that youngsters of that age shouldn't experience at all. At the same time, it still happens all over the world today.

Plus like you mentioned. Women, old men and children kept things going at home. They had to keep living and running the society under horrendous circumstances. Just imagine air-raid sirens and fleets of bombers during the nights. They just had to act bravely so that our men would have had something to fight for.

 

[W75]

Any recommendations let me know!:

Von Hertzen Brothers

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (The Band): Speech Disorder (The Song)

Egotrippi

 

[Sharppi]

Von Hertzen Brothers

Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (The Band): Speech Disorder (The Song)

Egotrippi

 

[Sharppi]

Also, this is Toni Lydman's band Mononen, where he plays guitar.

 

[W75]

Tasavallan Presidentti (President of the Republic)

Laika and the Cosmonauts

 

[Paul Bunyan]

Wow! A virtual high five!

My Finnish friends from my old soccer forum steered me well.

Also thanks for the recommendations! I'll listen to these and see if I can get my hands on them.