Aleksander Einseln

Aleksander Einseln was an Estonian general, the Commander of Estonian Defence Forces from 1993 to 1995, and previously a United States Army colonel. In 1944, Einseln, aged 12, became a war refugee as he fled from Estonia to escape from the invading Soviet army. In 1949, he emigrated to the United States. From 1950 to 1985, he served in the US Army, taking part in the Korean War, and as a Special Forces A-team commander in the Vietnam War. In 1993, at the request of then president Lennart Meri, Einseln returned to Estonia to serve as the first Commander of its armed forces after the end of Soviet occupation and the restoration of independent Estonia in August 1991.