Remembering Pearl Harbor
If I said the words, "September
11," I imagine most people in North America would be able to associate
that date almost automatically with the horrific terrorist attacks in New York
City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania in 2001.
At one time there was a similar,
almost automatic association of December 7 to another surprise attack on
America -- the Japanese military raid on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941.
More than 2,300 American servicemen
lost their lives that day. The Pacific fleet was dealt a crippling blow.
"Remember Pearl Harbor!" would become the mantra for whipping up
patriotic fervor during the war that followed that "day of infamy."
Many heroes emerged from the
crucible of that awful day as well. One man, a chief aviation ordnance man at
the small Naval air base at Kaneohe Bay, was one of those unlikely heroes. When
he died in 2010 at the age of 100, he was the oldest living Medal of Honor
recipient, recognized for his courageous actions that day 71 years ago.
Admiral Chester Nimitz (right)
congratulates
Lt. John W. Finn after Finn received the Medal of Honor.
His name was John William Finn. As
we approach the 71st anniversary of Pearl Harbor Day this Friday, here is John
Finn's story.
Chief Finn was sleeping in that
Sunday morning, looking forward to spending a little extra time with his wife,
Alice. Being the chief ordnance officer at the Kaneohe Bay base, he was a
little puzzled by noise that sounded like .50-caliber machine-gun fire coming
from the nearby airfield. No practices or exercises were scheduled.
There was a knock at the door, and a
neighbor told Finn that he was needed at the hangar.
Accompanied by two other Navy
servicemen, Finn was driving his 1938 Ford along the idyllic Hawaiian roadway
when a small airplane came in low. He knew immediately that the engine sound
was not from one of the PBY reconnaissance aircraft assigned to the base. As
the plane's wing tipped as it began a run at the base, Finn saw the telltale
Japanese Zero insignia and realized that Kaneohe Bay was under attack.
PBY
reconnaissance aircraft
Kaneohe Bay is about five minutes’
air time from Pearl Harbor, so many consider the attack there the first
official American action of World War II.
Arriving at the airfield, Finn was
immediately immersed in the battle. First he went to the armory and broke out
machine guns and ammunition to mount some kind of resistance to the Japanese
onslaught. Then he set up a .50-caliber machine gun in a very vulnerable
position and began to return fire against the strafing Zeroes. One plane was
shot down and some attributed the "kill" to Finn and his brazen
defense of the airfield.
Asked about his bold attempt to
defend his turf, Finn said he was simply outraged at the audacious attack:
"I was so mad. I guess I didn't have the sense to be frightened." Hit
by shrapnel over a dozen times, Finn refused to leave his gun post until he was
under direct orders. Then he helped set up makeshift defenses for the base
before finally seeking medical attention early Monday morning, nearly 18 hours
after the attack began.
Finn was hospitalized and wasn't
released until Christmas Eve.
Nine months later, the newly
promoted Lieutenant Finn traveled to Pearl Harbor with his wife. There he
boarded the USS Enterprise and was awarded the Medal of Honor by Admiral
Chester Nimitz.
Like most heroes, John Finn never
saw his actions as heroic. He humbly described himself as a "good ol' Navy
man doing my job."
After his retirement from the Navy
in 1956, John and Alice returned to their native Southern California. Alice
died in 1998, but John pushed on, still fervently patriotic and still a hero to
all who ever knew him or heard his story from that first Pearl Harbor Day --
Dec. 7, 1941.
Here is Lt. John Finn's Medal of
Honor citation:
For extraordinary heroism,
distinguished service, and devotion above and beyond the call of duty. During
the first attack by Japanese airplanes on the Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay,
Territory of Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Lt. Finn promptly secured and manned
a .50-caliber machine gun mounted on an instruction stand in a completely
exposed section of the parking ramp, which was under heavy enemy machine gun
strafing fire. Although painfully wounded many times, he continued to man this gun
and to return the enemy's fire vigorously and with telling effect throughout
the enemy strafing and bombing attacks and with complete disregard for his own
personal safety. It was only by specific orders that he was persuaded to leave
his post to seek medical attention. Following first-aid treatment, although
obviously suffering much pain and moving with great difficulty, he returned to
the squadron area and actively supervised the rearming of returning planes. His
extraordinary heroism and conduct in this action were in keeping with the
highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
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