Sometime on or about Dec 6, 1988 I found myself in the home of a Helsinki family drinking after leaving the Hot Apple (or perhaps it was the Red Apple) where I had met two sisters. We stayed up late, one Marine on leave from Moscow and 5 or 6 equally aged Finns.
To my surprise I learned it was Finnish Independence Day.
Next morning we all got up and had to take sauna which got weird for a twenty year old to suddenly find himself nude with a bunch of relative strangers.
At breakfast I met the "Old Man".
He had lots of questions about me.
The daughters tried to explain to him I was in the American military and they told me he had fought in "the war, like now, he had fought the Russians".
I dont think he was that impressed with a peace time Marine and as hard as the fighting was in Finland he had a good point.
He had a small fire extinguisher loaded with some sort of booze that brought fire rather than putting it out.
Missed my western carrier flight back to Moscow that afternoon and had to fly Aeroflot. What a mess.
That old Finn vet was hard core.
