Jussi Kekkonen

Uuno Johannes (Jussi) Kekkonen (30 September 1910 – 1 April 1962) was a Finnish major, CEO and the younger brother of President of Finland Urho Kekkonen. Jussi Kekkonen fought successfully in the Winter War in the direction of Kuhmo but lost his sight when he was wounded in the early stages of the Continuation War.

Kekkonen was born in Iisalmi. He attended the Cadet School in the early 1930s and served as an officer in the Kuhmo border squad. Kekkonen was seen as a devoted and folk-like officer.

In the Winter War

In October 1939, a Separate Battalion 14 (Erillinen Pataljoona 14) was founded at the command site of the Kuhmo border squad at the Jämäs barracks, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Frans Ilomäki. Lieutenant Jussi Kekkonen served as the leader of the second squad of the battalion. When the Winter War started, Kekkonen's squad was doing fortification work in Kalliojoki. The enemy, outnumbering the Finns, attacked the Finnish troops numbering about 50 at Lammasperä, and Kekkonen's squad was sent there as reinforcements. The Finns were already giving up their positions at Vääräjoki when Kekkonen assembled his troops in the counter-attack starting on 6 December 1939. The Vääräjoki positions were re-manned and the Russians withdrew behind Vääräjoki. The front guards were now located at Vääräjoki and the proper defense station at Tyrävaara. The Russians' new attack on 12 December brought them to the open fields at Tyrävaara.