Sunday, June 29th 2025- Marine Sgt. Michael Wayne Finke Jr.

Huron, Ohio

Iraqi Freedom

28

 

Beacon Journal staff writer / By Jim Carney

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….
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.”…

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

Finke loved to be surrounded by his family and dreamed of becoming an old man, as portrayed in the movie Grumpy Old Men Finke’s sister Tonya said . “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.”