(Deceased May 12, 1981)
Articles provided here by his son, Scott Finley
An Email from Scott Finley, son of a Hancock Sailor, Jim Finley who passed on 12 may 1981. See our Taps section.
Scott Finley, oldest son of Jim Finley
Date: 10 April 2007
Jake, my father, Jim Finley who served in Hancock from 1957-'59, had some interesting memorabilia in his personal affects that I think may be of some interest to your Website Visitors. I will provide photos of them and an explanation below each.
First, I would like to give a brief Biographical sketch of my dad which follows:
"My father was Jim Finley, was born and raised in Augusta, GA. He died far too young in 1981, at the age of 45. I guess like all of us, he had his share of disappointments and triumphs. However, he always spoke highly of his time in the Navy, aboard the USS Hancock.
He was in V-3 division, for nearly three years, from 1957-1959. I still have his cruise book from 1957, one of his uniforms, dozens of pictures, etc.
I still have the uniform he's wearing in the attached picture (1956):
I have many old sailor stories, but the first one that comes to mind is kind of bittersweet. He told me that there were only two onboard casualties while he was onboard. One of them happened while they were at anchor in Honolulu Harbor. They were playing touch football on the flight deck, and one guy went out for a pass. He lunged towards the "out of bounds" marker to catch it, jumped too far, and went overboard. He drowned before they could reach him.
My father's been gone for many years now. There were many things I wish I could say to him, but just can't. Preserving some of his Navy items, and keeping some of his stories alive, is just my way of telling him that I miss him, and look forward to one day seeing him again."
Jim Finley, AD3, USN - 1956
While in Japan
Scott found some interesting Hancock Chow Menus which will tweak some memories of all of us old Salts.. The Following is the Menu for the 4th of July,1957:
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Then another Holiday, this one for Thanksgiving - that same year (1957)...
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Scott: "Here are a couple of pages from the " Welcome Aboard" pamphlet. It's a total of 20 pages, describing the Hancock, her history, onboard operations, etc. There is no date on it, but it was with several other items of my father's that are from 1957, which was his first year on the Hancock."
Jake: The Welcome Aboard is a booklet given to all new Crew members when they come aboard for the first time. However, they must have quit doing that by the time I came aboard (1962), as I never received any such booklet. Any input on this, write the Yeoman.
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Jake: Scott tells me he has other "Sea Stories" from his dad which we will provide at a later time (as of 5-3-07)... we will be anxious to get these stories and they will be provided in our Oral History Section.
Scott Finley for my Dad,
Jim Finley, V-3 Division
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