"Lauri Torni (Larry Thorne) & Iron Cross" Topic

Does anyone know the basis for his award of the German Iron Cross? Or even the date?
From what I have been able to discover, he trained with Germany on two occasions, but doesn't appear to have actually fought for them.
I know he joined the Finnish battalion of the SS Viking after the Winter War, but after training was apparently released back to Finland, due to having more Finnish officers than available slots.
Later, after Finland and USSR made peace, he again went to Germany for partisan training, but according to the biography I read (Born a Soldier), he just trained, never actually fought.
So what is the basis of the award?

According to his wikipedia entry, the Iron Cross was awarded 11 December 1943 – so would be for actions during the Continuation war. It's says 'citation needed' so may not be reliable.

That's what I don't understand. He wasn't in the German Army then.
Would Germany award the Iron Cross to someone in an "co-belligerent" army against a common foe?

I don't see why not. Finland styled itself 'co-belligerent' but I suspect the Germans considered them differently.

I recollect reading that some Jewish Finns refused German medals, so German medals were awarded to some Finns at least.

There are lots of examples of countries awarding medals to service personnel from other armies

Dwight Eisenhower, for example, had the Belgium Croix de Guerre, the French Legion of Honour and Croix de Guerre with Palm, the Russian Orders of Victory and Suvarov and was a Knight of the British Order of the Bath (among many others) – closer to home (for me) Sir Arthur Currie was also Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and had the French and Belgium Croix de guerre as well as the US Distinguished Service Medal

Keep in mind that the Iron Cross at one point in the war was given out in bucket loads. One had to really work to not get one.

Not a knock on the folks that got one. All nations give out low level metals like candy. Example: link

Classic US example might be that during the Vietnam War, it was fairly common for officers who'd spent nearly their entire tour in Saigon, to apply for and get a very short tour of duty commanding a combat unit in the field, just to get their career ticket punched and the metal(s) needed.

Of course there is the MOH counts for the ACW where an entire Union regiment may have been given them just for re-enlisting.

He was a Green Beret and died in Vietnam … regardless of his …

The Iron Cross could be awarded to a member of any country allied with Germany. Several Japanese admirals were Knight's Cross holders.

Thanks everyone, very helpful.