Saturday morning, Elizabeth Alvarez was live on the USS John Finn to celebrate the anniversary of the ship’s commissioning.
USS John Finn, a guided-missile destroyer, is named for medal of honor recipient John William Finn whose actual birthday is the following week on July 24.
John William Finn was awarded a Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism, distinguished service, and devotion above and beyond the call of duty.
During the first attack by Japanese airplanes on the Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, on 7 December 1941, Lt. Finn promptly secured and manned a .50-caliber machine-gun mounted on an instruction stand in a completely exposed section of the parking ramp, which was under heavy enemy machine-gun strafing fire.
Although 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
. It was only by specific orders that he was persuaded to leave his post to seek medical attention. Following first aid treatment, although obviously suffering much pain and moving with great difficulty, he returned to the squadron area and actively supervised the rearming of returning planes. His extraordinary heroism and conduct in this action were in keeping with the highest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.