Simo Hayha

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Hello! I am fascinated by the military and by war stories and today I am going to tell you about a great war hero from WWII! His name is Simo Hayha.

Simo Hayha was born in Finland. He joined the army in 1925. Before being a soldier, Simo was a farmer and a hunter. He won many trophies for marksmanship. He started fighting in the army as a sniper in 1939. Simo had a very unique fighting style that made him stand out; for one thing, his camouflage was completely white which was creative and smart because it made him invisible on the snow covered battle field. Another thing was he fought all alone and had no back up. I think this shows how brave and confident he was. Another thing that shows how smart and thoughtful Simo was, was he didn't use a regular scope on his rifle. He used the far less common iron sites for 3 very good reasons, 1 -because he knew that a telescopic site would fog up easily and 2 – because he knew that reflection from the sun's rays would reveal his position to the enemy and 3 – the iron site gave more visibility.

He was excellent at stealthy movement and concealed himself from the enemy with smart tricks like compacting snow in his mouth to stop his breath from being visible in the cold weather.

Simo was so effective as a soldier that the Russian army launched several attacks specifically aimed at him. He escaped these attacks up until March 6^th of 1940 when he was shot in the Jaw by a Russian soldier. He was found by his fellow soldiers who reported that half of his facing was missing. Simo was alive but unconscious for over a week. He regained consciousness and began to recover on March 13^th, 1940 which was the day that peace was declared. Soon after the war, Simo was promoted from Corporal to second Lieutenant by Field Marshall Gustaf Emil Mannerhein. No one else in the history of the Finnish army was promoted that fast. Simo will go down in military history as one of the best snipers ever.

Because of the amazing things I have just told you about I am sure you can see why I think Simo Hayha is such a great hero. Heros make us believe that anything is possible. We can all be better people in life if we try to be like our heros. I hope you all have heros that inspire you like Simo Hayha has inspired me.