Over the course of 10 years photographing the Pearl Harbor Survivors at various events in the San Diego area, every so often I would see Colonel Millett in attendance. Many events that Survivor and Medal of Honor Recipient John Finn attended would also bring out other Medal of Honors. Happy occasions such as John Finn's 95th birthday in 2004 were my favorites. In this photo, the Colonel's daughter Elizabeth helps him get his jacket straightened as he enters the party.


Here he is shown laughing with several other Medal of Honors during the party.

From left: Col. Millett, John W. Finn, One of John's friends from Kanehoe.
Back Row: Jay Vargas and John J. McGinty III

But of course, there are the many solemn memorials for the "Greatest Generation" as they leave us with memories and a duty to try to fill their shoes. Here, Colonel Millett was arriving aboard the USS Ronald W. Reagan (CVN-76) for the memorial services of a fellow Medal of Honor Recipient Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale.



Colonel Millett with Medal of Honor Recipients John Finn (seated) Walter D. Ehlers and John J. McGinty III. (right to left)


Just meeting this hero so many times left me wanting to chat with him whenever possible. Although he was seemingly a man of few words, his presence was to me, and to all who met him, larger than life.



Farewell, Lewis. May you be watched over in your rest and dream the dreams of true heroes.

At the end of last month, Dana had the incredible honor of being invited to another one of John Finn's many 100th birthday parties. This one was held at Naval Air Station, North Island Coronado, CA on the 25th of July. Over 400 people were in attendance. Dignitaries, military brass from every branch and elected officials gathered with long time friends and several of John's old Navy shipmates. Of course, such a gathering is filled with historic import.

Robert J. Modrzejewski (Marine Corp, MOH, Vietnam) signs John's 100th birthday image.

Dana wrestled with what to present John on his big day. He finally settled on a gift that would be made more memorable by the other "special guests" we heard were invited — 12 of the other living Medal of Honor recipients. With the help of our friend Mark at Color Reflections, we created this mounted, archival image of John holding the sign from the highway near his home that has been renamed in his honor. In the background is the unfurled Medal of Honor society flag from the parade at Coronado on July 4th.

The party also afforded the opportunity to take this once-in-a-lifetme picture of the gathering of these American Heroes.

Left to Right standing: Leonard B. Keller, Richard A. Pittman, Drew Dix, Michael E. Thornton, Jay R. Vargas, Thomas R. Norris, Robert J. Modrzejewski, Walter J. Marm, Walter D. Ehlers, Jon R. Cavaiani

Seated: James A. Taylor, the widow of Admiral James B. Stockdale, and John F. Finn



Perhaps the most well traveled "guest" was this United States flag presented to John by the U.S. Navy. It was flown aboard every active duty aircraft carrier in preparation for John's big day. We've noted before the immense esteem John is held in by our serving sailors. He was quite touched by this gesture of respect.



Since Dana is a Navy man himself, he couldn't resist asking Lil Larkin (John's long time friend) to take this picture of him with a model of the Lockheed S3 Viking, presented to John by the VS-29 ordnancemen. It's the very same plane Dana served aboard during his tours of duty during the Gulf War. Next to it, is a picture of the sailors aboard the U.S.S. Stennis spelling out John's name out on the flight deck.

Here's the link to the Navy Compass newspaper's story.

During the recent month-long series of celebrations for the 100th birthday of Medal of Honor Recipient John W. Finn, John was more-than happy to carry out a special request to administer the oath of reenlistment for a fellow Navy Aviation Ordnanceman.

This particular reenlistment ceremony was scheduled to take place during the 4th of July Parade held in Coronado, California.

As an aside, prior to the commencement of the dinner party, I brought “Metal of Honor” out the trailer and put her on display in front of the restaurant for the guests and the public to see. And as expected, much of my time during the dinner party was spent chatting with people who asked to take pictures of the bike, as well as having wonderful conversations about the project as a whole.

During the dinner party, Melissa rose to her feet and expressed her deep appreciation for the honor of being selected to have the most-revered Ordnanceman in Naval history, John Finn, administer the oath; and I think there wasn’t one person in attendance who wasn’t deeply moved by Melissa’s words... as she stated: "We're not among heroes, we're among angels."As the party was relaxing after a fine evening meal, Melissa took the time to step outside so as to take a few pictures of the bike to show her fellow Ordnancemen aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.
And I have to believe by the shear number of photos Melissa took of the bike that she found it pretty special... what with the Aviation Ordnance community's favorite hero engraved on the tank.

Melissa even got on the phone to tell her friends about the bike as well as how excited she was to be eating dinner with the hero of the Aviation Ordnance world, John Finn.
The following day, Independence Day 2009, brought with it spectacular blue skies and parade fans 12-deep on both sides of the nearly 2 mile long parade route.

And with fellow Aviation Ordnancemen marching in escort of the classic GTO convertible carrying the oldest living Medal of Honor Recipient, Melissa and her mother waited with great anticipation of the arrival of John at the reviewing stand.
With a spotless inspection-ready dress white uniform, AO3 Thorton stood at attention, and with right hand raised, took the oath of reenlistment from the Medal of Honor who her fellow Ordnancemen hold as their greatest example of Naval service.
And what a wonderful gift to remember this special event by, that of a beautifully framed picture of John Finn, along with a copy of his Medal of Honor Citation, and adorned with three separate Medal of Honor challenge coins, another of the Purple Heart, and an Ordnanceman coin; something any AO would be extremely proud to have on their wall.

David Melchior kindly sent this video over of Dana showing some guests at gathering held Joe & Lil Larkin's house all the engravings on Metal of Honor.





At the Joe Larkin's in San Diego, Dana Harbaugh goes over features of his customized 2009 Harley Davidson that is dedicated to Pearl Harbor survivors. He is explaining to Medal of Honor recipients SP4 John Baca, USA and Colonel Bob Modrzejewski, USMC. Also pictured is retired Marine Captain Joe Larkin. Metal of Honor is a play on words by Dana. His website is: http://www.pearlsofhonor.com. Dana served in the US Navy.

I guess you could say Dana's friend John Finn is a "rock star." The US Navy certainly thinks so, especially all the ordnancemen. Here's a story from DVIDS about a flag that has been traveling the world over to be flown in honor of John's 100th birthday. Second story. Third story

"We all gathered together during flight operations today to honor a man that we respect very highly," said Clift. "Aviation ordnancemen look up to this man for his accomplishments and for his leadership within his rate and his community." The flag that was raised on Eisenhower yesterday has already been flown at sea aboard USS George Washington, USS John C. Stennis and USS Ronald Reagan. It will continue making its way from one destination to the next until it is finally presented to Finn on his 100th birthday, July 23.

Did I mention John got to meet another President this spring?

I presume many have never seen a "Medal of Honor" flag carried in a parade... but since John W. Finn was the guest of honor at this year's 4th of July Parade in Coronado, California... his banner was seen by thousands that day. And of course, the Medal of Honor Recipient John Finn, seated in the back of this beautiful GTO, had Navy Aviation Ordnanceman marching alongside his vehicle.

Nothing could have topped off this wonderful 4th of July day more than the incredible honor I received when two other Medal of Honor Recipients, John P. Baca (left) and Mr. Robert J. Modrzejewski (right) (click on their link to read their MOH Citations) took the time to do their own inspection of the Remember Pearl Harbor Tribute Motorcycle during a neighborly backyard picnic.

Their complements on this project were incredibly moving to this Navy veteran...

Words from these great men can only help to inspire.

Columnist Diane Bell whose column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays in the San Diego Union-Tribune did a short feature on Metal of Honor's meeting with World War II Hero John Finn on 5-23-09. The story appears on page B5.

A rolling tribute

Yesterday, WWII Medal of Honor recipient John Finn saw a different kind of “metal of honor.” This one, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle hand-engraved with WWII images, is the work of Desert Storm veteran, Dana Harbaugh, 47, a Las Vegas photographer who is preparing a photo book about Pearl Harbor survivors.

Harbaugh customized the motorcycle, calling it the “Remember Pearl Harbor Tribute Motorcycle,” to remind youth of sacrifices made by our military.

He took the newly completed bike yesterday to Finn's Campo home to show him its engravings, which include Finn's image. “I wanted to get his approval,” the author said.

He got it. Finn autographed the bike, which will be at the Veterans Memorial Museum in Balboa Park from 10 to 2 p.m. today and Sunday. It also will be at the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial service on Monday.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, World War II Medal of Honor recipient, John Finn was able to get a good look at Metal of Honor, the customized Harley Davidson Crossbones he helped inspire. Metal of Honor bears John's image from 1941 as well as engravings of his Medal of Honor (both front and back) along with numerous other images from that day that will live in infamy.

As a final seal of approval, John signed the tank next to his picture. Upon the bike's return to Las Vegas, the marker signature will be painted over with a special paint and clear coated again by Dwight Purcellz of Purcellz Customz.


John, who has always loved motorcycles, was so excited to finally see the bike after many months of hearing about it. He seemed pretty tickled to see himself on the trailer, as well. He is pictured twice, once at a meeting with former President Bush and again with his caretaker Francis at the USS Arizona Memorial in Oahu during the Survivors 65th Anniversary visit to the island.



Author Dana Harbaugh, owner of Metal of Honor, pulled together an amazing team of artisans to make his vision of a "rolling history lesson" into reality.

Bike Dissassembly and Reassembly by the Raymond Fisher in the Attitude Custom Cycle shop at Arlen Ness Las Vegas
Hand Engraving by Sandy & Jason at Chrome Fusion
Hand Painting the engraved areas by Sandy's wife, Joyce.
Hand tooled leather seat by Shirley of Bad Ass Seats
Painting by Dwight of Purcellz Customz
Trailer Wrap design by Krystal of Spark Creative
Trailer wrap printing & install by Mark and his team at Color Reflections
Flower Lei and Pearl art by Lori Anzalone

The bike will serve to hopefully draw people into the story of the Survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor as told in Dana's upcoming book: Pearls of Honor: Their Duty to Remember.