Terrence J. Finnegan Vietnam Memorial Bridge Collection

Terrence J. Finnegan graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) in 1974 with a degree in History. Following graduation, Finnegan enlisted as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force USAF). His first duty assignments included NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) and Pacific Air Forces. Later assignments merged his military career with intelligence and his primary work was in intelligence which was complemented by a parallel career as a senior civil servant in the Department of Defense. While serving in London, Finnegan received his masters degree. He is now a retired Colonel in the USAF with over 40 years of service within the Department of Defense in a broad array of assignments across the globe.

Finnegan is also an author, utilizing his varied experience in his 2006 work Shooting the Front: Allied Aerial Reconnaissance and Photographic Interpretation on the Western Front: World War I. In 2015 he published A Delicate Affair on the Western Front: America Learns How to Fight a Modern War in the Woevre Trenches and has written several articles on the role of military intelligence and aviation in the First World War.

Terry Finnegan was the leader in the effort to erect the Vietnam Era Memorial Bridge at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Originally intended as a tribute to a fellow CSU alum, Bill Latch, the Memorial was expanded in concept to pay tribute to both Vietnam veterans, as exemplified by General Lewis Walt, and activists against the Vietnam War, including Latch, both alumni of CSU. The bridge was dedicated in 1992 and is the first Vietnam memorial in the United States to honor both the veterans of that era as well as those individuals who protested the government's policies.

Finnegan was married to Susan K. Finnegan, nee Schmidt, who passed away in 2019.