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Graduating Class 13-29 Aviation Mechanics School, N.T.S. Norfolk, VA Nov. 1940. [detail]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Service Unit/Ship: VP-22 (Patrol Squadron), Pacific Fleet
  • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
  • Highest Rank: Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/1765

View full service history

"We began to appreciate the enormity of what was going on…"(Memoir, page 2)

By the end of World War II, Donald Patrick Finn, who served in the Navy in the Pacific Theater, could say he nearly saw it all. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He would serve as an aviation machinist and a gunner in Australia, Bali, the Dutch East Indies, and in the Aleutian Islands. He kept a diary and wrote letters to his sister in which he recorded detailed descriptions of his travels as well as pointed comments about military life, his comrades, and servicemen from other countries.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

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[ Photo Album ]
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[ Separation Document Correspondence [06/21/00] ]
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[ Notice of Separation from U.S. Naval Service [10/01/45] ]
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[ Presidential Unit Citation ]
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[ Memoirs: "December 7th" ]
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[ Letter To Helen [n.d.] ]

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Show more resources (13)

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[ Letter to Helen [04/20/41] ]

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[ Letter To Helen [05/21/41] ]

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[ Letter to Helen [06/19/41] ]

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[ Letter to Helen [9/26/41] ]

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[ Letter to Helen [10/20/41] ]

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[ Letter to Helen [11/14/41] ]

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[ Letter to Helen from Midway [11/22/41] ]

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[ Letter to Helen [05/42] ]

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[ Clipping: Returns From Thick of Trouble [04/30/42] ]
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[ U.S.S. Enterprise Patch ]
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[ Japanese leaflet ]
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[ 20 Franc note [n.d.] ]
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[ Post Card from U.S.S. Enterprise [n.d.] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Donald Patrick Finn Collection

Names

  • Messina, Maureen A.
  • Finn, Donald Patrick

Home State

  • Illinois

Headings

  • -  Finn, Donald Patrick
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Service Unit/Ship: VP-22 (Patrol Squadron), Pacific Fleet
    • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
    • Highest Rank: Aviation Chief Machinist's Mate
    • Dates of Service: 1939-1945
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran is a Pearl Harbor survivor who observed the attack of the Japanese on the Pacific Fleet.

Materials

  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 2014-09-07)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942-04-30)
  • Manuscript: Scrapbooks [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942-1943)
  • Manuscript: Military Papers [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1945-2000)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [9 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1939-1942)
  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1941-1942)
  • Artifact: Artifact [4 items] -- (collected 1944)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [4 items] -- Photographs (collected 1939-1943)
  • Video: VHS-C [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/1765

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Messina, Maureen A, and Donald Patrick Finn. Donald Patrick Finn Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01765/.

APA citation style:

Messina, M. A. & Finn, D. P. (1939) Donald Patrick Finn Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01765/.

MLA citation style:

Messina, Maureen A, and Donald Patrick Finn. Donald Patrick Finn Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01765/>.