General
Ensio Siilasvuo

Born Jan 1, 1922 in Helsinki
Died Jan 10, 2003 in Espoo
 

General, Dr (Pol. Sc.) h.c., Ensio Siilasvuo was born to an officer family as the youngest child. His father was the famous Finnish general Hjalmar Siilasvuo who made his reputation as the hero of Suomussalmi and Kuhmo in the Winter War 1939 - 1940.
   Ensio Siilasvuo volunteered to the Finnish Army in 1941 and served until 1945 as a platoon leader, company commander and chief of staff of an infantry regiment. He was wounded twice. He was promoted a captain at the age of 22.
   After the war Ensio Siilasvuo stayed in the military service in Oulu and Rovaniemi. He was graduated from the War College in 1952.
   The first UN peace-keeping mission to serve with was UNEF I 1957 where he was a Finnish Contingent Commander. Next year he served in Lebanon in UNOGIL as an military observer.
   The next term came in 1965 when he was the Commander of the Finnish Contingent in UNFICYP in Cyprus.
   After the six-day war in 1967 he was appointed to the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff UNTSO in Jerusalem and subsequently in 1970 Chief of Staff UNTSO.
   When the October War broke out in 1973 General Siilasvuo was appointed at first Force Commander UNEF II and in 1975 Chief Coordinator of the UN Peace-keeping Forces in the Middle-East.  He returned home after 12 years of UN service in 1980 and retired.
   General Siilasvuo was an Honorary Member of the National Association of the Finnish Blue Berets since 1980. He attended during the last twenty years to almost all Finnish Blue Beret meetings. He also was a wanted lecturer in Finland and abroad.
   The President of the Republic of Finland promoted Ensio Siilasvuo to the rank of full general on October 6, 1998.
   The Finnish Blue Berets have lost a great peace-keeper, a superb leader in war and peace and a great comrade-in-arms and peace.

Blessed are the peacemakers because they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9

(First page of General Ensio Siilasvuo's memoirs, In the Service of Peace in the Middle East 1967 - 1979, London 1992)

*
The Military Funeral Ceremony was held in the Kallio Church in Helsinki in February 1, 2003 at the presence of the family and hundreds of  General's comrades-in-peace.