A favorite in my collection. I created the poster and sent it out for him to sign about 3 yrs ago when he was 98 yrs old. To be honest I never thought I'd get it back, but about 2 weeks later my SASE was at the door. I send these out usally 2 or 3 at a time so when one comes back it is always a surprise to see who's inside. I was so utterly amazed he would take the time to sign and get it back to me so quickly.

What a great guy and what a bold autograph! I have seen him in interviews and his "homespun, aww shucks I anit no Hero" charm always has me hanging on everyword he says.

There were fifteen men awarded the Medal of Honor for their heroism on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. Only five survived the day. Now only one of them remains. John W. Finn.

He talks of his action under fire in the quiet unassuming tone common to all the Medal of Honor Recpients:

"That damned hero stuff is a bunch crap, I guess. Well, it is one thing that I think any man that is in that, you gotta be in that position," Finn said. "You gotta understand that there's all kinds of heroes, but they never get a chance to be in a hero's position."

That from a man who was wounded as some say more than 20 times- as he stood in the open under Japanese fire.

John will turn 101 years old on July 23 of this year, and is often called the first Medal of Honor Recipient of World War II, as the Bay was attacked a few minutes before Pearl Harbor proper.

This is the citation for his 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 machinegun mounted on an instruction stand in a completely exposed section of the parking ramp, which was under heavy enemy machinegun 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 and with complete disregard for his own personal safety. It was only by specific orders that he was persuaded to leave his post to seek medical attention.