Paul John Finken

West Point, 1989

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Tom Deierlein on November 13, 2006:

Paul and I served in Baghdad together for 4 months with the 506th. He was an LTC running the training of the Iraqi Army in East Baghdad and I was a CPT and Civil Affairs Officer for Sadr City. I had been called back into the Army after 12 years in the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve). I needed alot of help with information and ideas on how to get things done. I can't tell you how many times Paul would take time out of his day to help me with various requests, many/most of which had nothing to do with his job. He simply wanted to help an old friend and classmate manage chaos. Many times we would sit in the mess hall, enjoy a quick meal together and laugh as we recalled our cadet days. Paul and I took a couple of classes together and we were project partners more than once. Since neither of us was a star man those proved to be interesting times as we struggled to put something coherent together for Operations Research. There were those in his chain of command that didn't think that an LTC should be hanging out and chumming it up with a CPT and told him so. He ignored them because he is a man of principle that wouldn't turn his back on a friend. Paul was easy going, fun to be around, and one of those rare genuine nice guys that always gave more than he got. He always had time for a friend. I smile everytime I think of him.

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