Otto Skorzeny, a German SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel), passed away on July 7th 1975 at the age of 67. Skorzeny was born on June 12th 1908 in Vienna Austria, studying engineering at the Vienna Univresity of Technology before joining a mountain artillery unit of the Austrian Army. He was given the nickname "Scarface" after being injured in battle. At the start of World War II Skorzeny was transferred to the German army where he aided in the fall of France and the Low Countries. He later served in the famous 1940 raid by glider airborne troops on the Grandval Belgian fortress. The successful raid earned him an Iron Cross First Class and the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. He is best known for the daring 1943 rescue mission of deposed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, earning him a promotion to SS Lieutenant Colonel. After the war, he moved to Spain where he helped set up a mercenary training school for West German troops. He was later captured by American forces, found guilty and subsequently acquitted of a war crime. Skorzeny spent the last few years of his life in Madrid until his passing.