The hero

This is not the post I'd planned for today. I had one running through my mind about decadence and splendor and the sheer amazing perfection that is the Disney machine. Oh, those posts will come, but when I logged on, for the first time in many, many, many days I saw something buried deep among stories of securing your FB profile, photos of the oil spills and schools banning silly bandz, that was something I knew I had to make sure was seen, at least by my readers.

On May 27, 2010 (yesterday), the John W. Finn, the oldest surviving Medal of Honor winner and last of the surviving Pearl Harbor recipients died.  Chief Finn had been in the Navy for 15 years when,on the morning of December 7, 1941, when he heard gunfire coming from the Naval base and was told by a neighbor he was needed right away at the airbase.  Finn dressed and drove to the base where it was already under attack.  He manned a .50 caliber machine gun, where he fired on Japanese planes for two hours.  Chief Finn was wounded by shrapnel from the bombings and had at least 21 verifiable wounds.  If you've been on my blog for a while, you've seen the photo of him above at Pearl Harbor remembrances.  Chief Finn dropped out of school at the age of 17 to join the Navy.  On a sunny morning 15 years later he became a hero.  In 2008, in an interview just before his 100th birthday Finn said of his actions: “I never intended to be a hero. But on Dec. 7, by God, we’re in a war.” Yesterday the US, and the world, lost not just a hero, but an amazing human being.  As we approach the Memorial Day weekend, remember John Finn and all those who serve.