RIP John Finn, 100; oldest surviving Medal of Honor recipient

[Wayback]

Speaking of Memorial Day...
John Finn dies at 100; oldest surviving Medal of Honor recipient.  The retired Navy officer was the only one still alive among those who were awarded the medal for actions during the attack of Dec. 7, 1941.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-john-finn-20100528,0,5720051.story

[Tinka Cat]

Speaking of Memorial Day...
John Finn dies at 100; oldest surviving Medal of Honor recipient.  The retired Navy officer was the only one still alive among those who were awarded the medal for actions during the attack of Dec. 7, 1941.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-john-finn-20100528,0,5720051.story

wow....  and most Medals of Honor are awarded posthumously, too.

last year I went to the National Cemetery at the Presidio on Memorial Day. Some Army reserves shot some ceremonial cannon, I heard some speeches by various folks, and then I toured the graves.  Every one of them had a flag on it (put there by the Boy Scouts, which they do every year). I brought some flowers and laid them on some soldier's grave -- some Medal of Honor winner I just found.  It was a very traditional way to celebrate Memorial Day -- at least for me -- when I've been used to just getting the day off and having "fun".  It felt pretty cool.

[RGMike]

I posted this version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" on FB today -- the Kingston Trio, set to a really lovely and moving video montage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3srSgMEDQM

But tomorrow I'm posting another version that is quite OMGWTF-worthy.  Back in the late '60s there was a short-lived variety show on ABC called What's It All About, World? It was meant to be ABC's answer to what the Smothers Bros were doing: topical humor with music. (Oddly, it was hosted by erstwhile Disney star Dean Jones, who apparently was quite a right-winger in private.)  I've long thought I was the only person who remembered this show, and I've searched for years for evidence of this particular episode, in which Barbara Bain (then the star of Mission:Impossible with her husband Martin Landau) does a Marlene Dietrich-esque recitation of the song. Kind of amazing for prime-time TV back then -- check it out...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsTkvl0rpec