SAN DIEGO -- A procession was held Friday to honor a 34-year-old Navy sailor based out of Coronado who was killed in Iraq last week.
Chief Petty Officer Jason C. Finan, assigned to an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit, died Oct. 20 in Northern Iraq from wounds sustained in an improvised explosive device blast, the Department of Defense said.
Finan is from Anaheim, Calif., and was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. He was part of the effort to retake the city of Mosul from the Islamic State. He leaves behind a wife and son.
Finan’s body was flown into Lindbergh Field Friday morning. After a closed ceremony with family, escorts and pallbearers, a three-mile procession took him from the airport to a funeral home on 5th Avenue in Banker’s Hill, near Balboa Park.
A vigil was held for Finan in Imperial Beach last week, where he resided with his family.
Finan's death is the fourth since U.S. forces began helping the Iraqi Army fight ISIS. The toll includes Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin of Temecula, who died in March; Coronado-based Navy SEAL Charlie Keating IV, a petty officer first class killed in May; and Army Delta Force Master Sgt. Josh Wheeler, who died last year in a raid that freed around 70 hostages.
A private funeral service for Finan is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Sacred Heart Church in Coronado. A procession will follow to Miramar National Cemetery, where he will be laid to rest, The Coronado Times reported.
