Career
After the Second World War, he made a career in the United States Army. Alakulppi served in the Finnish Army during the Winter and Continuation Wars. In 1942 he was awarded the Mannerheim Cross.
Vesa Juhani Alakulppi eventually followed his father into the army and was killed in action during the Vietnam War.
Alakulppi retired from the United States Army in 1968 as a lieutenant-colonel. He died in 1990, and is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.
While Alakulppi served as a company commander in West Germany in the 1950s, his personal chauffeur was Elvis Presley who was carrying out his military service.
