Hubert Randolph Finney was the son of George David Finney and Mary Ellen Kelly.
Private First Class Hubert R. Finney, US Army, was assigned to the 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. In April of 1945 the 8th Division was tasked with eliminating the last of the resistance in the Ruhr-Sieg Pocket.
PFC Finney died on 14th of April 1945. He is interred in the Netherlands-American Cemetery, B,2,1, Margarten, Netherlands.
His awards include the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster.
Dear John,
I am sending you these pictures (dated 25th May -> the memorial day) – you can see my parents taking care of Hubert R. Finney and honouring him again with fresh flowers. Please see below, my initial email to you.
All graves at this Margraten Cemetery in the Netherlands are being taken care of by sponsors, for decades already (see: https://www.adoptiegraven-margraten.nl/en/ ). And it runs in the families, those sponsorships go from generation to generation via a ‘adoption’
Just to give you some background about myself: I am a Colonel of the Royal Netherlands Air Force and have to visit the USARMY at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, AL quite frequently (because I work with the Apache and Chinook helicopters). On one of my recent visits I decided to visit the Lynchburg (you can guess why -> the Jack Daniels Distillery). While walking downtown I saw a WWII memorial and was surprised to see two Finney’s. After I contacted my dad I learned ‘our’ Hubert R. Finney also was from Tennessee. To be precise: Dayton, Rhea. My dad was really emotional about this discovery, that I was so close to where Hubert lived.
That’s why I decided I would give it a try: to find relatives. It would be great to meet some relatives of Hubert – but that might be very difficult after all those years. Enclosed please find some information I was able to find. It would be really great if you could help me! I was not able to find accessible current registers to find any relatives. Maybe you could help out? It would be great to honour Hubert back home after all those years. His sacrifice was definitely not in vain and will not be forgotten.
My dad and mum are Ferry and Truus Mac Gillavry, living in Heerlen in the Netherlands – and they would love to be named as ‘sponsors’.
Looking forward to being in touch with you,
Kindest regards,
James Mac Gillavry
Colonel RNLAF
- Rank: Private First Class
- Date of birth: 31 July 1919
- Date of death: 14 April 1945
- County: Meigs
- Hometown: Decatur
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 28th Infantry Regiment, 8th Infantry Division
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Battles: Ruhr-Sieg Pocket
- Awards: Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster
- Burial/Memorial Location: Netherlands American Cemetery, Margraten, Netherlands
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XVI, Top Panel
- Sponsored by: Ferry and Truus Mac Gillavry
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