Published Sunday, October 05, 2008

Finley served on battleship in the Pacific

The Times-Herald

In late January 1944, John Finley and the men of the battleship U.S.S. Washington breathed a sigh of relief after the ship's massive guns finished bombarding Kwajalein Atoll in preparation for an Allied assault.

The Washington had been on sea patrols and in battle for months; and after the Kwajalein attack, the ship and crew were scheduled for a well-earned rest.

It never happened. In the early morning hours of Feb. 1, 1944, sailors were bounced out of their bunks when the ship shuddered as if it had been struck by a torpedo. The men raced to their battle stations only to learn the Washington had just plowed into its sister ship, the U.S.S. Indiana, after the Indiana changed course without alerting the rest of the task force.

The Washington had a 60-foot long gash in the bow. Six crewmen were dead and four wounded. In minutes, the Indiana had accomplished what the forces of Imperial Japan had not. The Washington was out of service.

"That was a scary time," Finley says. "It was a big bang and crash and nobody knew what was going on."

Finley was born in Crafton, Pa., in 1924. His father was a street car conductor in Pittsburgh, and Finley remembers his childhood fondly. He says he and his pals played stickball and shot marbles -- and once, Finley even gave racing a try.

He built a soapbox derby car from scrap lumber and used his sister's roller skates as wheels. Finley was pleased with the results. His sister was not.

"Boy, she didn't like that," Finley says. "She didn't like it a bit."

When Pearl Harbor was attacked, Finley was too young to be drafted. But after he turned 18, he was ready to serve; and in July 1943 he joined the Navy, following in the footsteps of one of his brothers. Other brothers served in the Army.

Finley went the Naval Training Station at Sampson, New York. After learning Navy basics, he traveled to Pleasanton, California, to await further orders at the Navy's huge Personnel Distribution Center

Casualties were mounting in the Pacific, and replacement troops were needed quickly. After a short time in Pleasanton, Finley sailed to Pearl Harbor to meet his new ship. He didn't have time to see the sights on shore but remembers the remains of the extensively damaged fleet.

"Even then, it was still really torn up," he says. "It looked bad."

Finley was assigned to the cruiser U.S.S. Pensacola. After a few voyages, he was transferred to the battleship U.S.S. Washington.

For months in late 1943, the Washington was part of a huge naval task force headed by six destroyers and four battleships. The ship engaged in fast carrier battle practice, learning how to move quickly while keeping a steel safety net closed tightly around the aircraft carriers at the heart of the formation.

Guns roared night and day and planes flew endless missions as the group practiced.

But in November 1943 plans changed and the task force broke into several smaller groups. The Washington headed for the Gilbert Islands to bombard enemy-held islands in advance of Allied invasions. But before it went to battle, the ship stopped in Fiji. By then, Finley was glad for a break.

"I don't remember too much about it," Finley says. "But Fiji was a real nice place. It was good to get off the ship. We went to the beach and had some drinks there."

After bombardments at Miki, Jaluit and Tarawa, the Washington joined another large carrier task force. By then, the Japanese were paying attention. On Nov. 27, 1943, the American group was attacked by several Japanese planes.

"I saw a plane, and a few minutes later there was a big burst of fire," Finley says. "It didn't get close to us."

After bombarding enemy targets for months with very few breaks between battles, the Washington was taken off the front line after the collision with the Indiana.

Temporary repairs in Pearl Harbor left the ship able to steam under its own power to the naval yard in Puget Sound, near Seattle.

Finley spent weeks in Seattle and says it was a nice place.

When the Washington returned to duty, Finley was not aboard. Instead of sailing back to the Pacific, Finley was sent to Sun Valley, Idaho, for further training. He earned his Seaman First Class rank in March 1944, and remained on duty in Idaho for several months.

Finley says the Navy duty in Idaho wasn't much, but the fishing was excellent. Finley says he often wished he had his personal fishing tackle from back home.

"If I'd had my rods and reels I could have really done some good," he says. "It was a nice place. Idaho was my favorite place of the whole war."

In January 1945, Finley was sent to the Navy Yard in Philadelphia, where he was discharged.

He went back home to the Pittsburgh area and looked for work. At the time, America's factories were working overtime and Pittsburgh was the national's steel-making capital. Finley found work at Heppenstall Steel and worked there for more than two decades before the company merged with a European firm and the mill was closed.

While working at Heppenstall, Finley met Minnie Wetzel. They were married in 1956. Minnie's first husband had been killed in the war, but she had a 10-year old daughter who became part of the expanded family. Finley now has two grandchildren.

When Heppenstall Steel closed, Finley took work wherever he could find it. He did a lot of landscaping maintenance, tended private yards and worked as a groundskeeper for a nursing home.

"I liked it," he says. "I was pretty good at it, too."

John and Minnie Finley moved to Coweta County 2001 to be closer to family when her health began to decline. Minnie passed away in 2004.

"I really liked the Navy," Finley says. "It was a good thing for me. We had to fight back and I believe it was the right thing to do."