Page 118 - Senior Link Magazine Fall 2020- Online Magazine

John Finke Kept On Keepin' On

by Larry A. Williams

John Finke was and night patrols were scary; it
born to Gale and was so dark that you couldn’t see
Wilma Jo Finke anything. There were booby traps
on May 1, 1946 in everywhere, so you had to be
Stanford, Texas. careful. Some had been left by the
He was the oldest French, but they could all hurt you
in a family of five if they were tripped.”
siblings. His dad
“tried farming at Lance Corporal Finke received
first but wasn’t two medals for one particularly
very successful at it intense firefight on November 16,
so he went to work 1966 at Quang Tri, Province, Dong
in the oil business.” Ha. The citation for his Vietnamese
The Finke family Cross of Gallantry with a silver star
lived in Snyder, reads in part, “The platoon to which
Texas when John Lance Corporal Finke was assigned
graduated high was taken under heavy automatic
school in 1964, weapons fire, and a fire fight ensued
where he played which lasted approximately two
football and hours. Early in the fighting, Finke, a
participated in machine gunner, received a leg wound
track. After high while delivering fire on the enemy
school, he went to positions. Refusing evacuation, Finke
work at Western continued his heavy fire until contact
Electric. had been broken. Although painfully
wounded, he continued to lay down
Finke was drafted heavy protective fire until the other
ooking back on the day into the Marines casualties had been evacuated.” John
he received the Naval on January 17, 1966. He was sent told the Lieutenant he had been
LCommendation Medal with to Camp Pendleton in California shot. “I had a big bruise on my leg
a “V” for valor, nearly 53 years for six weeks of basic training and and some shrapnel imbedded, too.
ago, 74-year-old John Finke said, weapons training. In July 1966, he I was patched up and put back
“That must have been my John arrived in Vietnam via Oakland, in action. We lost two helicopters
Wayne moment.” His citation California, Alaska and Okinawa. that day. After that, we just kind
for bravery reads in part, “On 19 “We left all of our civilian clothes of kept on keepin’ on.” John
June 1967, Corporal Finke’s platoon, in Okinawa and were issued received a Purple Heart for his
which was conducting a search combat fatigues and gear.” wounds. Reading through his
and destroy mission in Quang Tri After arrival in DaNang, he was Combat History, Expeditions and
Province suddenly came under intense assigned to Company H, Second Awards record while in Vietnam,
small arms, automatic weapons and Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third I counted that Finke was involved
mortar fire from a well-concealed Marine Division. “I spent most in 15 separate “operations”
force of North Vietnamese Regulars. of my time up north by the DMZ (engagements with the enemy)
Observing a wounded Marine lying (Demilitarized Zone) for search- during his 13 months there.
in an open field, Corporal Finke and-destroy missions. We were
unhesitatingly exposed himself to the choppered by Huey helicopters
heavy volume of fire, moved across everywhere. They bulldozed John continued, “I found out
the fire-swept terrain and carried most of the DMZ from one end that I was going home and was
his comrade to a position of relative to the other; it was a killing sent back to DaNang and left the
safety.” That was just one of the zone. We went out on numerous middle of August 1967. We flew
awards the young man earned missions. Nighttime guard duty back to Okinawa to pick up our
during his tour. clothes; after being sealed up for

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