PO1 James Finn, U.S. Navy, World War II
Description
James Finn ended up in the U.S. Navy because he didn't want to join the Army and promised his parents he would not join the Marines. Soon he was training to be a bomber pilot and eventually deployed to the Pacific theater.
In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mr. Finn tells us about flying the single engine TBF and TBM Avengers as part of a three-man crew, dropping bombs over Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Chi Chi Jima, French IndoChina and even in Burma.
Finn describes the challenge of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers and the ferocity of the Japanese air defenses. He also shares his memories of being aboard the USS Franklin aircraft carrier in October 1944 , when it was disabled by a Japanese kamikaze attack, returning to action aboard the USS Hornet, and how he heard the war was over.
Mike Ergo originally joined the U.S. Marine Corps to play his saxophone in the Marine Corps band. But a short time after joining the Corps in 2001, Ergo changed his mind and asked to be transferred to the infantry. Soon, the U.S. was at war in both Afghanistan and Iraq. After an uneventful first...
Published 11/06/24
Aaron Cunningham started thinking seriously about military service after watching Operation Desert Storm unfold in 1991, the year he graduated from high school. He began college without being sure of military service. Now, Col. Cunningham is retired after 29 years of service. But the service that...
Published 10/30/24