Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953; World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army; Air Force
  • Service Unit/Ship: 25th Infantry Division; Air Force Chief of Chaplains
  • Location of Service: Pearl Harbor; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Italy; Japan; United States
  • Highest Rank: Major General
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/64946

View full service history

"They look to the chaplain for guidance and they expect you to follow them into attack against the enemy. Are you coming along? They will ask you. The chaplain never lets them down." (Biography, page 27)

Terence Patrick Finnegan was ordained a Catholic priest in 1930 and enlisted in the Army in 1937, recruited by a chaplain who said the service needed more priests. Finnegan was stationed in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, and he didn't sleep for several days, ministering to the wounded and dying. On Guadalcanal, he saw more casualties and understood that his men wanted him close by at all times. In 1949, Finnegan transferred to the newly formed Air Force, and within ten years he had risen to the post of Air Force Chief of Chaplains. A transcript of a 1974 interview provides important details about Finnegan's policies in his four years as Chief of Chaplains. A biography, written by a reporter who interviewed him in 1989, a year before his death, fills in more personal details. (A second interview, conducted in 1989, is also included.)

Terence Patrick Finnegan Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

View 93 images in sequence.
[ Biography of Monsignor Terence P. Finnegan by Peggy Schenk ]
View 24 images in sequence.
[ Transcript of a 1974 interview with Major General Terence P. Finnegan ]

About this Item

Title

  • Terence Patrick Finnegan Collection

Names

  • Schenk, Margaret
  • Finnegan, Terence Patrick

Home State

  • Connecticut

Headings

  • -  Finnegan, Terence Patrick
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: 25th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Pearl Harbor; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Italy; Japan; United States
    • Dates of Service: 1937-1962
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Service Unit/Ship: Air Force Chief of Chaplains
    • Highest Rank: Major General
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 1989-10-1989-12)
  • Manuscript: Biography [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2009-03-10)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1974-08-16)
  • Photograph: Photographic print [7 items] -- Photographs (collected 1990-2008)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/64946

Online Format

  • audio
  • image

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:

Schenk, Margaret, and Terence Patrick Finnegan. Terence Patrick Finnegan Collection. 1937. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.64946/.

APA citation style:

Schenk, M. & Finnegan, T. P. (1937) Terence Patrick Finnegan Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.64946/.

MLA citation style:

Schenk, Margaret, and Terence Patrick Finnegan. Terence Patrick Finnegan Collection. 1937. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.64946/>.