Memorial honors life of dedicated Marine

Published Feb. 13, 2005
By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer

WESTLAKE - Michael W. Finke Jr. couldn't wait to be a Marine.

He tried to join when he was only 15 years old. And he tried again a year later.

His dream came true when he joined the Marines at age 17.

Sgt. Finke, who spent several years living in Medina County as a youth, wanted to be part of the war in Iraq so badly that he repeatedly typed his name on the roster to go overseas, even though he was still recovering from surgery.

The 28-year-old Marine eventually got to Iraq, where he died along with 29 other Marines and one sailor in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2005.

Finke was described at his memorial service by his former commander as the embodiment of all the Marine Corps values -- honor, courage and commitment.

``One of the hardest things I had to do was tell him he could not go to Iraq and, Lord knows, he wanted to go,'' said Maj. Michael Davis, Finke's commander at California Camp Pendleton for 18 months.

Somehow, Finke's name kept appearing on the roster.

``I didn't put it there,'' Davis said. ``Only one person could do it and that was him.''

Finke would tell his commander, ``Sir, I'm good to go,'' Davis said.

But Davis would tell Finke, `` `You are not good to go right now.' That hurt him a lot.''

But Finke finally got his chance to go to Iraq last year. He died nine days before he was scheduled to go home.

Davis said Finke was a ``human pit bull,'' a dedicated, tenacious, hardworking, phenomenal Marine.

``There was no man who worked harder,'' Davis told several hundred people, including U.S. Sens. George Voinovich and Mike DeWine and U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Lakewood, at the memorial service.

A funeral for Finke was held earlier in Phoenix, where his wife, Heather, lives.

Finke was the second Marine from the Akron region to die in the Iraq war. Four Army soldiers from the area have also died in the war.

Finke's sister, Tonia Pocztar of Akron, told those at the memorial service a story of her brother as a little boy.

``He was a clumsy child,'' she said. ``If there was something to run into, he did; trip over, he did; fall off of, he did.''

He ``cracked his head open more times than any child could possibly imagine,'' she said.

Finke loved to be surrounded by his family and dreamed of becoming an old man, as portrayed in the movie Grumpy Old Men.

``He couldn't wait to be old and dirty and get away with it,'' she joked.

She said her brother saved his platoon once from being ambushed while in Iraq.

``Michael had only one goal,'' she said. ``To be a Marine.''

Another sister, Trisha Rolling of Medina, was so overcome at the service that she was not able to read her statement about her brother.

The Rev. Paul Burtzlaff read it instead.

Finke didn't think of himself as a hero, Rolling said in her statement; he felt that he was merely doing his job.

Pastor Larry Wesolik said Finke and others like him are part of a new generation of helpers ``who place their lives on the line in search of causes greater than themselves.''

Wesolik said Finke served valiantly in Iraq and made a difference while he was there.

``He did not live to see it, but across the world, fingers covered with purple ink say `thank you for your service' and `thank you for your sacrifice,' '' he said, referring to the Iraqi voters who turned out in huge numbers just a few days after Finke's death.

In a letter dated Jan. 25, the day before he died, Finke wrote about the children of Iraq: ``You can see the future in the eyes of the children.''

Finke's brother, Timothy Alan Finke of Cuyahoga Falls, urged people to remember those who have died in the war by contributing to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. Send checks to the attention of Lisa Yacomiello at West 46th Street and 12th Avenue, New York, NY 10036. Donations can be made at www.fallenheroesfund.org.