I was just alerted to the passing this week of a real American Hero, John Finn. Especially this day of Memorial Day. I dug up this photo of me with Lt Finn.

 elkit alerted me to his passing and I partly quote him here
While everyone here seems to be lamenting the passings of Garly Coleman and Dennis Hopper, Someone else has died this week who is, I think, a lot more deserving of praise;

It is a rare privilege to meet someone who can be called a genuine hero. Even rarer to meet a Medal of Honor recipient. But to meet the last surviving MoH from Dec. 7th 1941, is the rarest of all.

Lt. John Finn, then a Chief Aviation Ordinaceman, was stationed at Naval Air Station, Kanehoe Bay (now Marine Corps Base Kaneohe Bay), on that Sunday morning when the Japanese attacked, where, despite being seriously wounded by enemy fire, he manned a .50 cal. machine gun and was among the first to return fire. Even after he was ordered to seek medical attention, he returned to his station to supervise the rearming of returning aircraft. For his heroism, he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor on Sept. 15, 1942.

I had the absolute honor to meet this man in 2002 at the 61st anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Along with  elkit,  ionotter,  razor we met this Recipient of the Nations highest honor bestowed upon him. He was sharp, vibrant and full of life and a no nonsense kind of guy. He respected the Japanese aviators that attacked that day for "Being gutsy as all hell jumping on us."

Later that day at the Punchbowl national memorial cemetery, I got to interview him for a good 20 minutes on video of his actions that fateful day. Our crew listened to each word he said and took it in, a living legend. I am forever thankful to Razor and IonOtter who were both active duty at the time to allow me to meet John and the other survivors of Pearl Harbor.

God Speed you John Finn, You earned your wings!!

Photo taken December 7th 2002