The Winter War

Dear Bonnie,

The year was 1939,

The world was gearing up for round two of the largest armed conflict in all of history

The Germans were growing in strength every day. And in fear of them so were every other superpower. Including the Soviets

The USSR decided that a great strategic advance would be the land and resources of the mountain country Finland. So they attacked in force

Now its at this point in the story when you wonder why nothing is rhyming or has any real rhythm behind it. And to that I say. Woah son, relax, its a good story.

Anyways, Finland never stood a chance, the USSR was 50x bigger after all. But the didnt stop the proud Finish people from trying.

And this is where we meet our hero, a Finish hunter named Simo Hayha.

When offered by his government to serve in the ‘Winter War’ he jumped at the opportunity. And with his prowess with stealth and a rifle speaking for him, he was given some fancy new tools, a Finish sniper (m/28-30) and a Submachine gun (Suomi KP/ -31). And basically told “Do what you need to do to win this war”

And that is exactly what he did, spending anywhere from hours to days held up in frozen bushes and trees to get the perfect shots. He dedicated his life to this war, and hes deads prove that. With upwards of 530 confirmed kills, he was named The White Death, as he wore pure white camo and used snow in his mouth to hide his breath.

This is the part of the story where it goes tragic, trapped under heavy suppressing fire on a mission gone horribly wrong Simo had nowhere to go. Mortar Shells crashing on is left and his right, exploding forever in his ears. Deafening him. He stood, and like any hero would, he attempted to make his last stand valiant.

And this is the part where it gets murky, he wrote in his journal that night(spoilers) that he expected death, but by some miracle, he found a way out. But not without a permanent reminder of that night, a bullet grazing his left cheek.

He had survived. The war was won. and White Death went home and went hunting again. Passing away in 2002 of natural causes at the age 96.