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Honoring a female Filipino American WWII hero

Updated: 03-11-2024, 08.26 AM

The U.S. Coast Guard has commissioned its latest Sentinel-class fast response cutter (FRC) named after Florence Ebersole Smith Finch, a Filipino American woman hailed as a World War II hero. The USCGC Florence Finch, which is now the “only currently active ship in the United States military named after a Filipino American,” began operation after a ceremony held at Coast Guard Base Seattle on Oct. 24.

About the namesake: Born to a Filipino mother and American father who settled in the Philippines after the 1898 Spanish-American war, Finch worked for the U.S. Army’s intelligence branch in Manila after high school. When Manila fell to Japanese forces on Jan. 2, 1942, she hid her American roots, secured a job at the Japanese-controlled Philippine Liquid Fuel Distributing Union and used this position to support the Philippine resistance by diverting fuel supplies and arranging sabotage missions against the occupiers. She was arrested in October 1944, then imprisoned and tortured for her activities. After being liberated by American forces on Feb. 10, 1945, Finch moved to New York, where she enlisted in the Coast Guard Women’s Reserve. Finch was awarded the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon for her sacrifices in WWII, making her the first woman to receive the distinction. She died on Dec. 8, 2016, at the age of 101 and was given a military funeral with full honors in April 2017.
What they’re saying: Speaking to KOMO News, Finch’s daughter Betty Finch Murphy noted that the occasion was “a complete and total honor and surprise.” Recalling her mother’s resilience, Murphy shared how Finch avoided post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during her captivity by repeating the mantra, “I will survive,” even while being forced to squat all day in her 4’-by-6’ cell. The 154-foot vessel with a flank speed of 28 knots will primarily operate in the Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia River.