Olavi Alakulppi

Olavi Alakulppi (17 July 1915 – 19 August 1990) was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the 1930s. During the Soviet-Finnish Continuation War, he served in the Finnish army, and was awarded the Mannerheim Cross. After the Second World War, he made a career in the United States Army.

Olavi Alakulppi

Olavi Alakulppi in the Continuation War.
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Finland
World Championships
1939 Zakopane4 × 10 km relay

Life and career

Alakulppi won a gold medal in the 4 ×10 km cross-country relay at the 1939 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Zakopane.

Alakulppi was born in Rovaniemen maalaiskunta. He served in the Finnish Army during the Winter and Continuation Wars. In 1942 he was awarded the Mannerheim Cross.

In 1945, in order to evade prosecution for his involvement in the Weapons Cache Case, he skied to Sweden and arranged for his wife Eevi, their son Vesa, and him to travel to the United States, where he joined the United States Army.[1] Vesa Juhani Alakulppi eventually followed his father into the army and was killed in action during the Vietnam War.[2]

Alakulppi retired from the US Army in 1968 as a lieutenant-colonel. He died in 1990 in Petersburg, Virginia, and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

While Alakulppi served as a company commander in West Germany in the 1950s, his personal chauffeur was Elvis Presley, who was carrying out his military service.[3]

In literature

Alakulppi has been the focus of several books.

Finland's 2008 War Book of the Year was awarded to non-fiction author Kari Kallonen[4] for his work "Olavi Alakulppi, sissiluutnantti: Marskin ritari ja maailmanmestari."[5] Kallonen is a well respected military historian and author who also won the 2016 War Book of the Year for his work "Tähtilippu talvisodassa – Amerikan Suomalaisen Legioonan tuntematon tarina."[6][7]

Kallonen's 2008 book was translated into English in 2017 by Mika Roinila. The translation is entitled "Guerrilla Lieutenant – Olavi Alakulppi: Knight of the Mannerheim Cross and World Skiing Champion".[8]

Cross-country skiing results

World Championships
  • 1 medal – (1 gold)
 Year   Age   18 km  50 km  4 × 10 km 
 relay 
19382222——
193923——Gold

Notes
  1. He became one of the ex-Finnish officers associated with Colonel Alpo K. Marttinen, known as "The Marttinen Men". See: Gill III, Henry A. (1998). "Appendix II Aftermath: Marttinen's Men". Soldier Under Three Flags. Ventura, CA: Pathfinder Publishing. pp. 187–193. ISBN 0934793654. OCLC 38468782.
  2. Vesa Alakulppi, CPT, Army, Seattle WA, 14May68 60E007 - The Virtual Wall
  3. Elviksen nahkatakki löytyi Sallasta, YLE Uutiset
  4. Kallonen, Kari (November 16, 2017). "Vuoden Sotakirjat". Sotasankari.fi.
  5. Kallonen, Kari (2008). Olavi Alakulppi, sissiluutnantti: Marskin ritari ja maailmanmestari. Tampere: Revontuli. ISBN 978-952-5170-93-1.
  6. Kallonen, Kari (November 16, 2017). "Tahtilippu Talvisodassa". Revontuli.net.
  7. Kallonen, Kari (November 16, 2017). "Vuoden Sotakirjat". Sotasankari.fi.
  8. Roinila, Mika (November 16, 2017). "Guerrilla Lieutenant". amazon.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-31.
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