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2007 history column: ‘All I did was shot at everyone I could’

John William Finn was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. Today, he is the only surviving Medal of Honor recipient from the Pearl Harbor attack.

When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor that Sunday morning, Finn had been in the Navy 15 years and was a chief ordnanceman at the Kaneohe air station. He was assigned to Patrol Squadron 14, one of the first units to be hit by Japanese carrier-based warplanes.

In a 2002 interview for the book “Beyond Glory: Medal of Honor Heroes in Their Own Words” by Larry Smith, Finn said he ran to his squadron’s airplane hangar when he realized the Japanese were attacking. Finn grabbed a .50-caliber machine gun and tripod, stood in the runway and “fired at the [Japanese] for the next two hours and a half. ... All I did was shot at everyone I could.”

Finn was shot in the left arm and left foot. He took shrapnel wounds in his chest and stomach, as well as a bloody head wound. After the attack, instead of seeking medical aid, Finn supervised the installation of machine gun emplacements in case of another attack.

When Finn finally went to the hospital on the morning of Dec. 8, his wounds were so serious that he was not released until Dec. 24.

In September 1942, Adm. Chester W. Nimitz placed America’s highest military award around Finn’s neck. It was the only Medal of Honor awarded to an individual who actually shot at the enemy; other Medals of Honor were for heroic rescues that day. The citation for Finn’s decoration says that although he was “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.”

The next month, Finn was commissioned as an ensign. By July 1944, he reached his highest rank, lieutenant. As an officer, Finn served with Bombing Squadron 102, at stateside training facilities and aboard the carrier Hancock. He left active duty in March 1947, transferring to the Fleet Reserve. At that time, Finn reverted to the enlisted rate of chief aviation ordnanceman. In September 1956, he was placed on the retired list in the rank of lieutenant.

In a 2006 interview at the 65th anniversary of the attack at Pearl Harbor, Finn said he had done nothing special that Sunday morning in December 1941: “I know I must have been scared that day, but mostly I was just mad, ... and I was going to do my duty.”

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This story appeared in the Dec. 10, 2007, issue of Navy Times.