John Finn

JOHN FINN

Aside from my admiration for the brave and heroic, why do I particularly remember John Finn (1909-2010) ? His exploits at Pearl Harbor are well documented and led to his receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. He was a not too distant relative of mine.
See if you can follow the genealogy. He was the son of my maternal grandmother’s brother.( Second cousin maybe)

I first heard of him through my great aunt, Teresa Finn, John’s aunt and sister
of my grandmother. Aunt Teresa was a spinster who lived in Saint Louis in a fine part of
town ( Now a bombed out slum). She had doted on John and became very emotional
when she spoke of him to me around (1942 or 43) so although I never met him I knew a little about him. I did not know he had a wife, Alice ( Not much information about her anywhere on the internet) and a son, Joseph (Cannot find anything about him either)

Brother Lee and I were sent off the Western Military Academy around 1942. Lee needed the disciplined life of the military, or so thought my Dad, and I was sent along as an afterthought. This Academy was in Alton, Ill, a delightful town then ( Not so hot now) and just across the river from Saint Louis. Sometimes , on weekends we would visit Aunt Teresa. She lived in a fine apartment building called The Winston Churchill ( we called it the WC.) We were always reluctant to be there as there was not much to do but we listened attentively to her stories.

My brother Dean and Anne visited John , probably 10 or 15 years ago. They found him living on a small ranch in southern California. They found him interesting and talkative.