# War Veterans who served in multiple wars, decades apart **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004 "2012-05-05T16:48:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/21 "2012-05-06T10:19:31Z")
Lauri Törni (aka Larry Allan Thorne) not only fought in multiple wars, he also wore the uniforms of three different countries: Thorne enlisted in the Finnish Army in the 30s and became a Captain. At one time, he went to Germany and became a Untersturmführer (lieutenant) in the Waffen-SS. After WW II, he emigrated to the United States, enlisted in the US Army and eventually became a major in the Special Forces. He was killed in action in Vietnam on 18. Oct. 1965. Thorne fought in the Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland in 1939/40 and in the Continuation War between the Soviet Union and Finland from 1941 to 1944. While in the US Army, he, somewhat ironically, again was stationed in Germany and lead a rescue mission in the Zagros Mountains in northern Iran. Thorne then served multiple tours in Vietnam where he died in 1965. His remains where not found until 1999, he is now interred at Arlington National Cemetery. > **[Lauri Törni](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauri_T%C3%B6rni)** > > United States: > Vietnam War > Lauri Allan Törni (28 May 1919 – 18 October 1965), later known as Larry Alan Thorne, was a Finnish-born soldier who fought under three flags: as a Finnish Army officer in the Winter War and the Continuation War ultimately gaining a rank of captain; as a Waffen-SS captain (under the alias Larry Laine) of the Finnish Volunteer Battalion of the Waffen-SS when he fought the Red Army on the Eastern Front in World War II; and as a United States Army Major (under the alias "... > **[Larry Alan Thorne - Major, United States Army](https://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/larry-thorne.htm)** > > Get all the information you need at first hand. Self reviewed and self written. Real experts report on arlingtoncemetery.net ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/22 "2012-05-06T19:21:02Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > Lauri Törni (aka Larry Allan Thorne) not only fought in multiple wars, he also wore the uniforms of three different countries: Interesting story. Oddly enough I’d never heard of Thorne before. A damned impressive career. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/23 "2012-05-07T02:05:26Z")
George Bush was discharged from the Navy in 1945, and then served as Commander-in-Chief during the Gulf war, which makes a gap of more than 45 years between wars. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/24 "2012-05-07T02:23:25Z")
Several people in my unit served for Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, the first Gulf War, Bosnia, and post-9/11. Two of them topped out at the maximum enlisted time of 42 years (mandatory retirement at age 60). ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/25 "2012-05-07T04:11:43Z")
My grandfather, born in 1898, served in combat in both world wars. Lied about his age both times, and was accepted both times. He wasn’t the only one, there were quite a few who did the same, former Gallipoli/Western Front ANZACs signing up for WW2 and fighting in both North Africa and the Pacific. My grandfather fought in all four of the theatres I just mentioned. My mother was born in 1929, when my grandfather was in his early 30s, and I was born in 1965, when my mother was 36. My grandfather survived both world wars but died a year or so before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/26 "2012-05-07T04:39:25Z")
I knew a man who flew cargo planes at the end of WWII. He reactivated for Korea and again for Viet Nam. He passed away several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/27 "2012-05-07T05:58:02Z")
My uncle did the same thing. He joined the Marines when he turned eighteen and fought at Iwo Jima. He fought in Korea and was mostly stationed in Japan for Vietnam, though he apparently did make it into the country at some point. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/28 "2012-05-07T08:09:56Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Winfield Scott served in the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the American Civil War. He served from 1808 to 1861 and was a general for forty-seven years. Scott was also involved in the [Aroostook War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aroostook_War) and the [Pig War](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War). ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/29 "2012-05-07T09:40:48Z")
Korea does not really count, it started less than five years after the end of WWII and many soldiers were recalled WWII vets (the mid level officers would have been WWII Vets as a matter of course). Some Korean War Medal of Honour winners who had fought in WWII [Stanley T Adams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_T._Adams); also served in Vietnam. [William E Barber](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_E._Barber): also served in Vietnam [George Andrew Davis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Andrew_Davis,_Jr.) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/30 "2012-05-07T09:44:16Z")
Jackie Fisher was Admiral of the Fleet in WWI, until he was driven nuts in 1915 by Churchill over Gallipoli. He’d started as a midshipman in the Crimean War of 1854, under Lord Raglan; who’d fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Also at the Crimean War was the mascot on the HMS Queen: Timothy the (female) turtle, who died in 2004, aged approximately 161. I had read of a Southerner who’d ridden as one of Moseby’s Raiders as a teenager, then went to France on WWI in his sixties, but I couldn’t retrieve the cite. ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/31 "2012-05-07T10:43:11Z")
Colonel Richard Keirn, United States Air Force, was a prisoner of war in Nazi Germany from 1944 to 1945 and in North Vietnam from 1965 to 1973: [http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/k/k046.htm](http://www.pownetwork.org/bios/k/k046.htm) He was interviewed on C-Span: [http://www.c-spanvideo.org/person/1006085](http://www.c-spanvideo.org/person/1006085) Unfortunately, the video is currently not available (or at least I am too dumb to find it). I remember how Col. Keirn compared his experiences as a POW in Germany and in North Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004/32 "2012-05-07T11:25:20Z")
There’s also my father-in law - recruited to the Israeli army in 1968, he served as a regular officer and as a reservist in every subsequent Israeli military action, and, as a Lieutenant Colonel, still does regular reserve duty at the age of 61. That’s 43 years. He’s always threatening to retire, but I don’t think he ever will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/war-veterans-who-served-in-multiple-wars-decades-apart/621004.md?page=1)