John William Finn was a chief petty officer in the United States Navy who played a critical role in the defense of Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on 7^th December 1941.

Finn was stationed at Naval Air Station Kaneohe Bay and was one of the first to respond when the attack began.

Despite being wounded multiple times, Finn continued to return fire with a machine gun and even helped move injured sailors to safety.

He was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions, becoming the first recipient of the award during the Second World War.

John William Finn, who was born in 1909 in Compton, California, had left school and joined the Navy at the age of 17. By the age of 32, Finn had attained the rank of Chief Petty Officer and was placed in charge of a detail of twenty men at the Kaneohe Bay Naval Aviation Station on the island of Oahu as the chief aviation ordanceman.

On the morning of the 7^th of December 1941, the sound of gunfire and a neighbour pounding on his door shouting "They want you down at the squadron right away!" immediately woke up Finn. Instead of what doing what many people would do when confronted by a surprise bombing raid – run in the opposite direction, Finn demonstrated he was made of sterner stuff.

Still unsure of what was happening, he got in his car and drove to the air strip while staying below the base speed limit until a passing plane displayed the Japanese "Rising Sun" symbol on its wing. "I threw it into second [gear] at that time," recalled Finn, "and it was a wonder I didn't run over every sailor in the air station."

As Finn got to the hangers, he found a scene of hell and mayhem with men scurrying between flaming aircraft in search of cover or a way to protect themselves. He observed Japanese aircraft in the skies as he drove to the hangars, where he discovered that the airbase was under attack and that the majority of the PBYs were already on fire.

The machine guns installed on the PBYs were being used by Finn's men to fight back, either by firing from within the burning planes or by removing the guns and putting them on makeshift supports.

Later, Finn revealed that one of his initial actions was to seize control of a machine gun from the squadron painter. "I knew that I had more experience firing a machine gun than a painter" when I said, "Alex, let me have that gun."

Finn would fight the Japanese invaders on his own for the next two hours. Despite suffering 21 different injuries, including a gunshot wound to his foot and a shrapnel wound to his shoulder that left him unable to use his left arm, he continued to fire his homemade anti-aircraft weapon.

Finn continued his personal offensive despite this, and is credited with shooting down at least one enemy aircraft and damaging more, according to reports. In a 2001 interview, Finn was modest and remarked, "I can't honestly say I hit any, but I shot at every damn plane I could see."