Ace of Spades HQ

December 07, 2009

Lt. John William Finn, USN, Medal of Honor
— Dave in Texas

Here's a great story as we remember the attack on Pearl Harbor 68 years ago today.

There were fifteen men awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Only five survived that horrible day. Only one of them remains.
Lt. John William Finn, USN (Ret.) turned 100 years old on July 23 of this year, and he'll be attending the Pearl Harbor commemoration ceremony at the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial today in Hawaii, returning to the Kaneohe Bay waters where he mounted an impressive one-man attack on Japanese fighter planes in the ambush that pulled the U.S. into World War II. Because the bay was attacked several minutes before Pearl Harbor proper, Finn is often called the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War II

On his birthday this year, the Navy gave him a flag that had flown over every aircraft carrier in the fleet, a flag that went around the world (photos linked).

I'll just add my thanks to those of MKH. Thank you Lt. Finn.

story sent by DrewM.

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 09:20 AM | Comments (21)
Post contains 195 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Poor guy must watch the news these days and be convinced he suffers from dementia.

Posted by: t-bird at December 07, 2009 09:25 AM (FcR7P)

2 I have met Mr. Finn. He is extremely fun to speak with. He was in Chicago last fall for the Medal of Honor convention. In a movie about the Medal of Honor, Mr. Finn talks about his actions that day. What intrigues me the most is not his disgust with the Japanese, but his disgust with his superior officers that repeatedly ignored his pleas to fortify their defenses at the airfield. He, along with the rest of his Medal of Honor brethren, are truly heroes. The most selfless people you will ever find. http://www.pbs.org/medalofhonor/ Sometimes socialized television networks do good work-although this documentary focuses too much on the guy who gave his away due to Reagan and his Central American "invasion".

Posted by: jeff at December 07, 2009 09:27 AM (+uoRK)

3 Thank you Mr. Finn. I could be wrong but I think Schofield Barraks (25th Inf. Div. - my duty station 72-75) was hit even before his post. Japanese planes flew through Kole Kole pass and strafed some buildings on their way to Pearl. tip - do not run the last two and a half miles up the pass and the first two and a half miles down. Did that during a cross country competition. Madre de dios.

Posted by: teej at December 07, 2009 09:40 AM (c459z)

Silence! I salute him!

Posted by: achmed the dead terrorist at December 07, 2009 09:48 AM (c9Glf)

5 We use the word "hero" too freely. But this guy is a hero. God bless you, Lt. Finn.

Posted by: Reiver at December 07, 2009 09:55 AM (Yi1Sk)

6 BZ Mr. Finn. We are greatful.

Posted by: MAJHAM@GTMO at December 07, 2009 10:02 AM (qXVP6)

7 I suspect he's not reading this, so I feel like I should a place with a greater likelihood that the message is delivered.

Nonetheless, thank for your service, sir. And since a few of them might be reading this, to all of your brothers/sisters in the Navy and other branches that have served and continue to do so, whether or not you've received the MOH.

Posted by: scooter (still not libby) at December 07, 2009 10:09 AM (aamim)

A man like that is ,well...A man like that.

Goodnight sir.

'Nuff said.

Posted by: HH at December 07, 2009 10:18 AM (+jvXp)

9 More stuff on John Finn.

http://www.ramonasentinel.com/printFriendly.cfm?articleID=19166

Posted by: David in San Diego at December 07, 2009 10:18 AM (GF+6V)

10 is this the same MOH recipient that was banned by his homeowner's association from flying the american flag in his yard?

Posted by: befuddled at December 07, 2009 10:27 AM (BByz2)

11 Those of us blessed to be stationed on foreign military bases or at Embassies are privileged to have Armed Forces Network. The best part of this is the "commercials" which are spots that focus on US and military history, and often showcases various Medal Of Honor winners. Lt. Finn was one of these. I wish that we could have some of these commercials play on network television, so that perhaps some of our real history could get forced into childrens' (and adults') brains. Perhaps there would be a little more thought going into votes and decisions for our country's welfare.

Posted by: mokimoki at December 07, 2009 10:33 AM (IrV7s)

12 MAJHAM@GTMO, thank you for your service. Not easy where you are.

Posted by: mokimoki at December 07, 2009 10:35 AM (IrV7s)

13 What a terrific guy, I'm glad he's still around. He'sm the sort of American we all should be.

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at December 07, 2009 12:04 PM (eNxMU)

14 This is incredible. He takes on probably scores of Zeros, all diving w/ full on weapons to tear up an air field, from a no doubt empty (Sun. morning) parking lot? For 2 hours? The Japanese must have been very quickly aware of him... and we know how extremely motivated they were that morning.

Posted by: gjz at December 07, 2009 12:24 PM (GdqSP)

15 Ahh yes, Chief Finn! Great guy and yes he was a Chief Petty Officer when December 7th happened and also got the MoH while a CPO. One of only 42 Chief Petty Officers in history to get the Medal of Honor. Why do I know this? Because I'm a retired Chief Petty Officer and once a CPO, always a CPO.

Posted by: Aewl at December 07, 2009 05:43 PM (zu5rR)

16 Remember Pearl Harbor -- Keep America Alert! America's oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, living his 101st year is former enlisted Chief Petty Officer, Aviation Chief Ordnanceman (ACOM), later wartime commissioned Lieutenant John W. Finn, U. S. Navy (Ret.). He is also the last surviving Medal of Honor, "The Day of Infamy", Japanese Attack on the Hawaiian Islands, Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii, 7 December 1941. Visit my photo album tribute: http://news.webshots.com/album/141695570BONFYl San Diego, California

Posted by: TetVet68 at December 07, 2009 09:20 PM (iYy6T)

Aewl,

You have a lot to be proud of.

I guess I'm only an officer because my dad, a senior chief, told me to get a college education.

And what the chief says goes.

Apparently some enlisted men go out of their way to avoid initiating a salute.

I don't understand why. I always considered it an honor to return one.

It was a privilege to serve in the same Navy as John Flinn.

As a matter of fact I hope he lives to be a thousand, as I've never lived in a country without John Flinn.

And I don't want to.

And you, Chief, if you're at all worthy of the rank produce more of the same.

Posted by: Matt at December 08, 2009 12:07 AM (zhpr+)

18 hi

Posted by: nick at January 11, 2010 07:21 AM (urDLK)

john finn

Posted by: nick at January 11, 2010 07:23 AM (urDLK)

20 Ã™Â‚Ã˜ÂµÃ™ÂŠ Ã˜Â®Ã˜Â¶Ã˜Â±
Ã™Â…Ã™Â†Ã˜ÂªÃ˜Â¯Ã™Â‰ Ã™Â‚Ã˜ÂµÃ™ÂŠ
Ã˜ÂµÃ™ÂˆÃ˜Â± Ã™Â‚Ã˜ÂµÃ™ÂŠ
Ã˜Â§Ã˜ÂºÃ˜Â§Ã™Â†Ã™ÂŠ Ã™Â‚Ã˜ÂµÃ™ÂŠ Ã˜Â®Ã˜Â¶Ã˜Â±

Posted by: qusai at May 10, 2011 09:14 AM (ihk4k)

21 You have given us some interesting points . This is a wonderful article and surely worth reading.Excellent point here. I wish there are more and more articles like that alexander wang bag. Bright idea, hope there can be more useful articles . This article is definitely eye-opening and inspiring. I appreciate your bright ideas in this alexander wang rocco article.Great work! This article is definitely eye-opening and inspiring.Your do have some unique ideas here and I expect more bifocal eyeglasses articles from you. http://www.alexander-wang-handbag.com

Posted by: alexander wang at July 03, 2011 11:49 PM (olLq6)

Hide Comments | Add Comment | Refresh | Top

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.

75kb generated in CPU 0.116, elapsed 0.3009 seconds.
64 queries taking 0.2814 seconds, 149 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.