John William Finn

John William Finn (24 July 1909 – 27 May 2010) was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer and aviation ordnanceman, received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War II. Though ordnancemen are only responsible for performing maintenance on guns and handling of munitions, Finnwhen the Japanese bombed Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay during the 7 December attackearned the medal by firing a machine gun from an exposed position throughout the attack, despite being repeatedly wounded. He continued to serve in the Navy and in 1942 was commissioned an ensign. In 1947 he was reverted to chief petty officer, eventually rising to lieutenant before his 1956 retirement. In his later years he made many appearances at events celebrating veterans. At the time of his death, Finn was the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, the last living recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the last living United States Navy recipient of World War II.

Early life Born on 24 July 1909, in Compton, California, Finn dropped out of school after the seventh grade. He enlisted in the Navy in July 1926, shortly before his seventeenth birthday, and completed recruit training in San Diego. After a brief stint with a ceremonial guard company, he attended General Aviation Utilities Training at Naval Station Great Lakes, graduating in December. By April 1927 he was back in the San Diego area, having been assigned to Naval Air Station North Island. He initially worked in aircraft repair before becoming an aviation ordnanceman and working on anti-aircraft guns. He then served on a series of ships: , , , , and .

Finn was promoted to chief petty officer (E-7, the highest enlisted rank in the Navy at that time ) on June 5th, 1935 after only eight years of active duty. He later commented on his promotions, "Everybody thought I was a boy wonder. I was just in the right place at the right time." As a chief, Finn served with patrol squadrons in San Diego, Washington, and Panama.

Attack on Pearl Harbor Alice Finn (left) admires the Medal of Honor her husband John W. Finn (right) received for his defense of Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. By December 1941, Finn was stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. As a chief aviation ordnanceman, he was in charge of twenty men whose primary task was to maintain the weapons of VP-11, a PBY Catalina flying boat squadron. At 7:48 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, 7 December 1941, Finn was at his home, about a mile from the aircraft hangars, when he heard the sound of gunfire. Finn recalled how a neighbor was the first to alert him, when she knocked on his door saying, "They want you down at the squadron right away!" He drove to the hangars, catching sight of Japanese planes in the sky on the way, and found that the airbase was being attacked, with most of the PBYs already on fire. He was formally presented with the decoration on 14 September 1942, by Admiral Chester Nimitz, for courage and valor beyond the call of duty. The ceremony took place in Pearl Harbor on board . John Finn was a member of the John Birch Society.

In his retirement he made many appearances at events honoring veterans. He was the last surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the attack on Pearl Harbor, the oldest living recipient, and the only aviation ordnanceman to have ever received the medal. In that same year, part of Historic U.S. Route 80, was named "John Finn Route". Three buildings in the former Naval Training Center San Diego were named the John and Alice Finn Office Plaza. On 15 February 2012, the U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that an would be named in his honor.

Depictions in the media

Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn was portrayed in the 1970 film Tora! Tora! Tora!. He regarded highly for its accuracy. He was depicted by an uncredited actor in two scenes at the height of the attack, at the PBY base on Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay. He is shown in a sandbagged emplacement, firing a water-cooled .50 caliber machine gun with tall antiaircraft sights. The first scene shows him trading fire with strafing Japanese Zeros and then spinning around to fire after them at they fly over him. He is shown later, with his fatigues shredded by shrapnel, shooting down a Zero which the pilot crashes into a hangar. He disliked the 2001 film Pearl Harbor.

Medal of Honor citation John W. Finn (left) at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in 2001