thedrifter
11-21-06, 01:01 PM
November 27, 2006
Living history
Medal of Honor recipients honored aboard storied warship
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer
ABOARD USS CONSTITUTION — At 209 years old, the frigate Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, with 33 combat engagements to its credit from 1797 to 1852.
At 97 years old, Navy veteran John Finn is the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, wounded 21 times throughout his undaunted stand behind a machine gun as Japanese planes attacked the airfield at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.
Between Finn and the ship, there was more than 300 years of history on deck when the retired lieutenant boarded “Old Ironsides” in late September at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.
But Finn didn’t come alone.
Sixty-three Medal of Honor recipients came by way of police escorts for a turnaround cruise in Boston Harbor aboard the three-masted frigate. As tugboats guided the ship around the harbor, its active-duty crew — dressed in period uniforms they call “1813s” — orchestrated the presentation of Medal of Honor flags to the medal’s recipients.
Finn was making his way to the bow of the ship when an announcement asked the honorees to take their seats so the ceremony could begin. His sea legs no longer move as quickly as they did the day he sprinted from his ’38 Ford to an aircraft hangar through strafing fire to retrieve the machine gun used to make his stand. He walks with a cane, slowly and deliberately. Finn turned around and headed toward his chair after the announcement, commenting that the last time he had received an order aboard a ship underway, “it was the end of World War II.”
The Medal of Honor flag, a light blue banner with gold fringes bearing 13 white stars, is relatively new. Though President Bush signed the concept into law in October 2002, the flag’s design was not approved until the end of 2004; the flag had been presented to only 10 of the 111 living recipients before the Constitution got underway.
It can be presented only to recipients or their next of kin — and even then, only by a “top-ranking member of the armed forces.”
Aboard Old Ironsides, the vice chiefs of staff for the Army and Air Force, the vice chief of naval operations and the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for combat development and integration handed the flags to the heroes of their respective services.
For old-school sailors such as Finn, who lives on a remote ranch close to the Mexican border 70 miles east of San Diego, the chance to be underway on such a storied ship was more gratifying than the cloth he was there to receive. Being on the Constitution and among its crew made him wistful, he said. He talked about shoveling coal aboard the collier Jason while steaming from Manila Bay in the Philippines to San Diego.
“It really is a special treat for me to be aboard this old ship,” he said. “I wanted to get busted in rating back to seaman so I could serve on this ship. But it was never done, and I’m lucky.”
Cmdr. Thomas Graves, the ship’s commanding officer, was glad to have the honorees aboard. “It’s a great opportunity, not just for the USS Constitution, but for our nation to pay [the recipients] tribute.”
Former Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Robert Ingram earned his Medal of Honor serving alongside the Marines in Vietnam and said being aboard Old Ironsides “is very interesting to me because I never spent any time in the Navy, and I really know very little about ships.
“I can’t imagine even climbing those lines,” he said with an eye toward the rigging.
Former Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Don Ballard, another corpsman who earned his medal on the green side but served on the blue side as well, said being aboard the Constitution is “the best experience I’ve had in the Navy.” It is exciting to see active-duty sailors serving in the same capacity as those who manned the ship two centuries ago, he said.
Seaman Gordon Mills of the Navy’s ceremonial guard, headquartered in Washington, D.C., followed Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Robert Willard to the ship to help hand out flags. He is around high-ranking military officials all the time in his job, he said, but being around Medal of Honor recipients and underway on the Constitution at the same time “is just amazing.”
As the other recipients mingled above decks, Finn went below to meet the sailors who’d fired the ship’s 21-gun salute as it passed Fort Independence in the harbor.
Seaman Brian Harris, who works on the ship’s gun team, said meeting Finn “goes without words,” adding that “to have the oldest Medal of Honor recipient in the world come down and take a picture with us and check us out is astronomical. I was so excited just to capture a picture of him. ... It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Ellie
Living history
Medal of Honor recipients honored aboard storied warship
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer
ABOARD USS CONSTITUTION — At 209 years old, the frigate Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, with 33 combat engagements to its credit from 1797 to 1852.
At 97 years old, Navy veteran John Finn is the oldest living Medal of Honor recipient, wounded 21 times throughout his undaunted stand behind a machine gun as Japanese planes attacked the airfield at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941.
Between Finn and the ship, there was more than 300 years of history on deck when the retired lieutenant boarded “Old Ironsides” in late September at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.
But Finn didn’t come alone.
Sixty-three Medal of Honor recipients came by way of police escorts for a turnaround cruise in Boston Harbor aboard the three-masted frigate. As tugboats guided the ship around the harbor, its active-duty crew — dressed in period uniforms they call “1813s” — orchestrated the presentation of Medal of Honor flags to the medal’s recipients.
Finn was making his way to the bow of the ship when an announcement asked the honorees to take their seats so the ceremony could begin. His sea legs no longer move as quickly as they did the day he sprinted from his ’38 Ford to an aircraft hangar through strafing fire to retrieve the machine gun used to make his stand. He walks with a cane, slowly and deliberately. Finn turned around and headed toward his chair after the announcement, commenting that the last time he had received an order aboard a ship underway, “it was the end of World War II.”
The Medal of Honor flag, a light blue banner with gold fringes bearing 13 white stars, is relatively new. Though President Bush signed the concept into law in October 2002, the flag’s design was not approved until the end of 2004; the flag had been presented to only 10 of the 111 living recipients before the Constitution got underway.
It can be presented only to recipients or their next of kin — and even then, only by a “top-ranking member of the armed forces.”
Aboard Old Ironsides, the vice chiefs of staff for the Army and Air Force, the vice chief of naval operations and the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for combat development and integration handed the flags to the heroes of their respective services.
For old-school sailors such as Finn, who lives on a remote ranch close to the Mexican border 70 miles east of San Diego, the chance to be underway on such a storied ship was more gratifying than the cloth he was there to receive. Being on the Constitution and among its crew made him wistful, he said. He talked about shoveling coal aboard the collier Jason while steaming from Manila Bay in the Philippines to San Diego.
“It really is a special treat for me to be aboard this old ship,” he said. “I wanted to get busted in rating back to seaman so I could serve on this ship. But it was never done, and I’m lucky.”
Cmdr. Thomas Graves, the ship’s commanding officer, was glad to have the honorees aboard. “It’s a great opportunity, not just for the USS Constitution, but for our nation to pay [the recipients] tribute.”
Former Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Robert Ingram earned his Medal of Honor serving alongside the Marines in Vietnam and said being aboard Old Ironsides “is very interesting to me because I never spent any time in the Navy, and I really know very little about ships.
“I can’t imagine even climbing those lines,” he said with an eye toward the rigging.
Former Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Don Ballard, another corpsman who earned his medal on the green side but served on the blue side as well, said being aboard the Constitution is “the best experience I’ve had in the Navy.” It is exciting to see active-duty sailors serving in the same capacity as those who manned the ship two centuries ago, he said.
Seaman Gordon Mills of the Navy’s ceremonial guard, headquartered in Washington, D.C., followed Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Robert Willard to the ship to help hand out flags. He is around high-ranking military officials all the time in his job, he said, but being around Medal of Honor recipients and underway on the Constitution at the same time “is just amazing.”
As the other recipients mingled above decks, Finn went below to meet the sailors who’d fired the ship’s 21-gun salute as it passed Fort Independence in the harbor.
Seaman Brian Harris, who works on the ship’s gun team, said meeting Finn “goes without words,” adding that “to have the oldest Medal of Honor recipient in the world come down and take a picture with us and check us out is astronomical. I was so excited just to capture a picture of him. ... It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Ellie