Two weeks ago I wrote about Earl Finch, the “one-man USO” who befriended thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry when they were sent to Camp Shelby in Mississippi in 1943 for World War II basic training.
Finch welcomed the AJAs when others scorned them. It became his personal mission to change the lot of the nisei soldiers, The Honolulu Advertiser wrote in 1965. It was a mission that engulfed his whole life.
I received a lot of email about him from my readers. Finch was described as “the epitome of the aloha spirit” by Jim Pollock, who added, “His is a touching, emotional story, and a great one at that.”
Since the 50th anniversary of his death is next week, I thought I’d write some more about him today.
Neil Kosasa, former president of the 442nd Club, said, “When we were lost in the South and needed a friend badly, he showed up to make our stay in Mississippi a little more pleasant.”
Finch threw parties for the AJAs and took them on excursions to New Orleans, Chicago and New York. Hiro Higuchi, 442nd chaplain, said at one party in 1944, Finch brought in Hawaiian musicians.
“When the music ended with ‘Aloha ‘Oe,’ ‘Across the Sea’ and ‘To You Sweetheart Aloha,’ you could hear a pin drop.
“I watched the boys from the islands and was afraid most of them would break down and cry. It was wonderful and so thrilling to know that in spite of wars and everything, they can’t take that feeling for the islands away from us.”
At his own expense, Finch brought in food for the mess hall he knew the boys would like: shoyu, bamboo shoots, tofu, Asian vegetables, pineapples and mango.
More than 1,500 soldiers asked Finch to be the executor of their estates.
When some of the soldiers were killed, Finch visited their families to express his condolences. He also visited hospitals where wounded AJAs were being treated. In one year he traveled more than 75,000 miles on such journeys.
In 1946, after the war, many GIs pooled their resources and brought Finch to Hawaii. Hundreds met his Pan Am Clipper at the airport. A motorcade of more than 100 cars brought him to Iolani Palace and City Hall, where he was given a key to the city. It was the biggest reception ever accorded a visiting private citizen.
Finch then led a group across the street to the War Memorial in front of the Territorial Office Building. The site, now largely invisible behind a bus stop, contains the names of those from Hawaii who died in the war. Many were men whom Finch knew personally.
“With tears streaming down his face,” the Advertiser reported, “he took off the leis draped around his neck and placed them at the memorial.”
He told the crowd that gathered there, “If I did nothing else in traveling all this distance to Hawaii than pay my respects here, my trip has been worthwhile.”
The first evening, 1,500 jammed the Palama Settlement gym for a luau in his honor.
Barney Ono of the 442nd said, “In the midst of suspicion and intolerance, we were saved by one man who gave us faith and confidence in the American way of life.”
As this is the 56th anniversary of statehood today, I should say that Finch was an ardent supporter of statehood. “I hope the next time I visit you,” Finch told the attendees, “I will be visiting the 49th state of the union.”
Finch was in the islands for 25 days, and his schedule was filled with luau, picnics and parties on six islands. More than 15,000 attended. Finch invited them all to visit him in Hattiesburg. “We threw away the keys to our house in Mississippi a long time ago.”
Between events Finch visited families of men who did not make it back.
Bob Tassie and a few others pointed out that there is a memorial plaque on a large rock that’s been placed at Castle Junction, the corner of Auloa Road and Pali Highway.
Earl Finch and several Windward residents erected that memorial in 1946, and it’s dedicated to the men and women from the Windward side who have died serving the country.
It lists 14 men who died during World War II, but additions have included those who served in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It says it was “presented to the Windward Oahu Community by Earl M. Finch, Hattiesburg, Miss., March 28, 1946.”
Earl Finch moved to Hawaii in 1947 to be closer to “his boys” and went into several businesses with 442nd vet Ralph Yempuku and Tom Moffatt.
He died of a heart attack Aug. 26, 1965, 50 years ago this coming Wednesday. He was just 49 years old.
Roy Yempuku, the son of Ralph Yempuku, told me that Earl is buried at Diamond Head Memorial Park. I asked why that cemetery was chosen.
“I wondered why, too,” Yempuku said. “Diamond Head Memorial is owned by the Hung Wo Ching family. Brother Hung Wai Ching was my father’s mentor and friend and a supporter of the 100th and 442nd combat teams.
“The Chings probably knew Mr. Finch. Earl’s death was sudden and unexpected, and my guess is that Dad probably got in touch with one of them.
“Mr. Finch was one of my father’s best friends, and my folks had plots there, too. Also, Dad lived in Kahala, which made it easy for him to visit.”
If any of my readers are interested in visiting his grave at Diamond Head Memorial, off 18th Street, Earl Finch is in plot J-56. That is in the right, back section as you drive in. Section J is not marked, but is just before section H, which is marked.
Look for a grave marked “Taira” just off the road, on the Diamond Head side. Earl Finch is 40 graves in from that. I encourage you to go and pay your respects.
Several readers asked about Finch’s family. He never married, but did adopt two sons. One was Seiji Finch Naya, whom I knew as director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Seiji was an orphaned college student in Japan who met Finch when his college’s boxing team traveled to Hawaii in 1951.
Finch sponsored a four-year scholarship to the University of Hawaii for Naya and later adopted him. Finch also adopted another young man from Japan, Hideo Sakamoto. Finch lived in Manoa at 2839 Puuhonua St.
In “The Earl Finch Story,” published by Seiji Naya, it describes his simple grave. A bronze plaque is embossed with the words “Earl M. Finch. Dec 16, 1915 – Aug. 26, 1965.”
“No other message denotes the deceased,” Naya said. “No flowers color the grim monument. In the four (now five) decades since his death, Finch has returned to the obscurity from whence he came. Only in the fading recollections of his ‘boys’ does his memory endure. Earl Melvin Finch would have had it no other way.”
Bob Sigall, author of the “Companies We Keep” books, looks through his collection of old photos to tell stories each Friday of Hawaii people, places and companies. Email him at sigall@yahoo.com.
