David Manning And The Butthole Flames Of The Homosexuals

Simo Häyhä was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 Winter War against the Soviet Union. He is believed to have killed over 500 enemy soldiers during the Winter War, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war. He is often regarded as the deadliest sniper of all time. Post-war life Häyhä's gravestone in Ruokolahti Church graveyard, South Karelia, Finland, with the inscription: Home – Religion – Fatherland It took several years for Häyhä to recuperate from his wound which required lengthy treatments and several surgeries. Although his face remained disfigured, he otherwise made a full recovery. After World War II, he was given a farm in Valkjärvi ("Whitelake"), Ruokolahti, a small municipality located in southeastern Finland near the Russian border. He became a successful moose hunter and dog breeder. In addition to farming, he enjoyed hunting, and his hunting parties over the years included the President of Finland, Urho Kekkonen. However, some people did not approve of his actions during the Winter War; he was met with hate and even death threats. The injuries he sustained in the war left recognizable facial scars, so as a well-known person, he avoided large groups of people. He never married, and lived as a bachelor. He enjoyed working, but he suffered from loneliness and fear; nights were especially difficult for him. However, he had friends and also spent time at his parents' and siblings' homes after the war. Eventually farm work became too difficult, so he put the farm up for rent, and moved to an apartment building in the centre of Ruokolahti. Häyhä was known as a modest man who never boasted of his wartime merits. He rarely spoke of the war and his experiences. When asked in 1998 how he had become such a good sniper, he replied simply: "Practice". In an Independence Day interview with Helsingin Sanomat in December 2001, shortly before his 96th birthday, Häyhä opened up about his war experiences. He was asked if he felt remorse for having killed so many people. He replied, "I did what I was told to do, as well as I could. There would be no Finland unless everyone else had done the same." Häyhä spent his last years in a war veterans' nursing home in Hamina, where he died in 2002 at the age of 96. He was buried in his home town of Ruokolahti. His private war memoir, titled Sotamuistoja (War memoirs), was written in 1940 but only recently discovered in 2017.