History
"Flash" Finnigan was an American war correspondent during the Korean War. Her job often got her into dangerous situations. At one point she was captured and taken behind enemy lines but was able to leave a trail by charming her captors into allowing her to take their photos, leaving discarded flash bulbs and film stock behind for any would be rescuers to find. These leavings were found by American soldiers Combat Casey and Penny Pennington who were assigned to rescue her. They soon succeeded and in bringing Flash back over to American lines they came across a Chinese fuel dump hidden in a well. With no ammunition or explosives, the trio used one of Finnigan's flash bulbs, still hot from a photo being taken, to ignite the fuel, destroying the ammo dump.
Upon their return to American lines, Flash had grown attracted to Combat, but could not bring herself to kiss him due to his beard. When she tried to convince him to shave it off, he refused as he vowed never to cut his hair or shave until after the war. The bashful Casey then put Flash at arms length, and her attraction to him was regarded as nothing but trouble to the soldier.[1]
Changing her nickname to "Torchy" Finnigan, the photographer crossed paths with Combat and Penny later on in the war. Her constant demand for dramatic photos at one point left them open to an ambush by Chinese soldiers, which Combat and Penny quickly routed and Combat gave the woman a spanking for the trouble she caused. Insulted by this treatment, Finnigan left in a huff, but later returned and rescued Combat and Penny from enemy soldiers who were going to sling shot them over a cliff, once more using her flash bulbs -- this time to blind enemy soldiers -- so that Combat and Penny could escape.[2]