When Midtown South Precinct police officer Ryan Finlay read about a World War II veteran who’d received only a single card on his 98th birthday last year, he sprang into action.
For the past week, Finlay has been collecting cards to send to the Hillsboro, Oregon-based veteran, who will turn 99 on Dec. 19.
#MTS asks for your help supporting a #WWII Veteran during the Holiday Season. Our own PO Finlay sprearheading the campaign. @USArmy pic.twitter.com/S5pO6sMbQe
— NYPD Midtown South (@NYPDMTS) December 1, 2016
Finlay, who doesn’t know the veteran personally, said he first learned about his plight through a friend’s online post. Another friend of Finlay’s confirmed that the story was real, the officer said.
“I started asking some of the guys here [at Midtown South] if they wouldn’t mind filling out a birthday card for this guy, because I found that to be completely unacceptable,” Finlay explained.
“There’s no way on earth a guy who was a World War II veteran, who served this country with honor and distinction, who’s outlived most of his family... [should] get one birthday card from the nursing staff, and probably feel… like he’s been forgotten about,” he added.
Since he started his campaign, Finlay has collected 30 cards and has 50 more to pick up from from a school and three martial-arts centers that are participating.
He also recruited a few police officer friends to collect cards for the veteran.
“I’ve got a ton of birthday cards coming in,” he said. “I didn’t really anticipate it gaining that much traction, but it really has.”
Finlay hopes to collect all the birthday cards by Dec. 9, and mail them by Dec. 12, he said.
He also recently got in touch with the Veterans of Foreign Wars branch in Hillsboro, and the branch agreed to arrange a birthday party for the man.
“I don’t want him to be alone, and I’d like to make sure that there’s someone there,” Finlay said.
Dan Fink, the point of contact at VFW Post 2666 in Hillsboro, confirmed the branch was working to reach the veteran or a family member of his to throw him a birthday party.
“It’s my feeling that he needs to understand that there are people out here who appreciate everything that he’s done, and the impact that he will probably never realize he’s had on everyone,” Finlay said.
Finlay — who was stationed in Guam, Korea, Japan, Thailand and Australia during his nearly five years oF active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps — expects to collect between 150 and 200 cards, given the response the campaign has gotten so far.
“What started off as a gesture… has kind of ballooned in a very short period of time,” Finlay added. “For somebody who was willing to give everything so that we could have everything, a birthday card is a very small gesture in return, but can have a very large impact.”
