Finnegan helps honor fallen soldiers

A former paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne division, Longboat Key resident Tom Finnegan was joined at local Memorial Day services by his grandson, a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces.

His other grandson, a U.S. Army sergeant, could not make the trip. He is in Afghanistan and assigned to radio communications; he previously served two tours in Iraq.

“I am very proud of both of them,” Finnegan said.

Finnegan, who spent three years, 1953 to 1956, as a paratrooper instructor at Fort Bragg, N.C., remembers his fallen comrades throughout the year, not just on Memorial Day.

“My job was to train them how to jump and how to be safe after they landed,” he said. “This was during the Korean War, and not all of them made it back.”

There were some humorous moments during training.

“More than once I had to give a soldier a little shove to make the jump. But after the first one, it was OK. We had a about 70% success rate.”

Finnegan recalls one scary moment he had:

“I was making a routine jump. I guess I thought it was routine because I forgot to do the mandatory one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two count before pulling the cord. My chute didn’t open. I bumped the chute below me and managed to get my reserve chute to open. I landed hard but wasn’t injured.”

Finnegan remembers America fallen heroes throughout the year.

“I often visit the military cemetery in Sarasota,” he says.

When he visits his hometown in Ohio, Finnegan usually calls on families who have lost a son or daughter in conflict.

“I want them to know their loved one is still remembered,” he says.

Finnegan admits, “I have always been a bit of patriot but more so after my years in service. These years made a significant change in my life. I was way better for it. I learned discipline; it gave me structure; and it challenged me. Physically, it challenged me that I began to run and eventually ran marathons.”

Although Finnegan believes Americans are more patriotic than residents in most other countries, he would like to see them show it more.

“I’d like to see more respect for the men and women who are serving our country,” he says. “My wife, Sandi, and I really like the flags displayed on the walkways by the town on Memorial Day.”

The couple have been Key visitors since 1974 and full-time residents since 1996. He has been a Woman’s Exchange board member for six years and is a sales volunteer. Both are active in St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church. Finnegan is an avid fisherman and has made 16 trips to Alaska for the sport. This year, he and group of friends are headed to Canada.