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| PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (Dec. 12, 2007) Medal of Honor recipient Lt. John Finn* (Ret.) pays his respects to the Sailors and Marines killed aboard USS Arizona during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Finn received the Medal of Honor in recognition of heroism and distinguished service during the Japanese attack. As of October 2007, at age 98, Finn is the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient and is also the only living Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor recipient. A chief petty officer at the time, Finn was stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay. During the first attack by the Japanese aircraft, Finn took control of a .50 caliber machine gun post and continued to fire on the attacking planes despite getting hit numerous times by enemy strafing fire. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist David Rush (Released) |
* Sadly, Lieutenant Finn passed away on the 27th of May, 2010, at the age of 100. Gone to glory with his shipmates.
"Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."
ReplyDeleteI remember my parents telling me about their reactions on hearing the news of the attack on Pearl Harbour, after 2 years of war all 4 divisions of the second AIF were overseas, 3 of them fighting for their lives in the middle east and Greece and 1 under equipped division in Singapore. Also all of our airforce was in the middle east (our front line bombers at home were Lockheed Hudsons!)along with most of the navy.
This was one of the lowest times of the war for the country they said, and then 2 months later the same aircraft carriers launched their attacks on Darwin and Northern Australia. But,Japan had awakened a sleeping giant and together our two countries picked themselves up and carried on to victory.
Hear, hear!
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