The White Death

Simo Häyhä, the man famously known as 'The White Death', is often regarded as the best and deadliest sniper in the world.
He was born in 1905 in Rautjarvi, Finland, a small town near the Russian border. He belonged to  the family of farmers. From his school days, he excelled in shooting activities and also won many competitions. In 1925, he began his mandatory military service in the Finnish Army. His precision, tactics, and commanding abilities soon established him as one of the main soldiers in the army. In 1939, he served as a sniper for the army. During the Winter War (1939-40) against the Soviets, he patrolled at temperatures ranging from -20 to -40 degrees Celsius in a white Ghillie suit (for camouflaging) and single-handedly killed approx. 260 Red Star soldiers during his mission stint. As the Soviet Union was suffering from The Great Purge of 1937, which included many arrests of high-profile Soviet army men, the Red Star Army was low on morale and disorganized. Also, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin didn't commission camouflage suits for his army; as a result, the Red Star's were on the backfoot and the Finnish Army got an upper hand in the battle. On 6th March 1940, during close combat, Häyhä brutally injured his face as the bullet from the enemy's gun pierced through his lower left jaw and fainted him. After the end of the war, he was declared dead and left behind on the field with his martyred fellows. But the courageous and determined Häyhä was not his last breath and nearly after one week he informed the army that he was alive. Soon after, he underwent twenty-six surgeries, in which the damaged jawbone was replaced by a piece of his hipbone. The deformity on Häyhä's face was the result of these surgeries. Because of his bravery and actions, he was awarded the Liberty Medal and promoted to commissioned officer. He spent his full life as a bachelor and died in 2002 at the age of 96. 

The Finnish Govt. also dedicated a museum to Simo Häyhä in his hometown Rautjarvi, which was opened in 1983. The legacy of his work and life will be remembered forever by the Finn's.

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SPVK