Vice Admiral Dan McCarthy and His Generous Gift for the Society
Marvin had to make some decisions about the funeral and the burial. He was unsure which way to go, so he was glad to get some good advice from the Society representative. “I talked it over with her, and I really appreciated having her opinion,” Marvin says.
“That helped me make the right decision.”
It was the first time Marvin had to deal with a death in the family, and it was painful. “The Society really cared about me as a person and what I was going through,” Marvin says. “They didn’t just go through the motions. They really cared. And I’ll always be thankful for that.”
This is your support for the Society at work to help Sailors, Marines, and their families in need. You’re making a real difference in their lives, just as you have for Marvin. “To deal with a financial burden at a difficult time – it’s extremely stressful,” Marvin says. “I will never forget what the Society has done for me and my family. Now I know I have a Navy family too.”
“That’s how two years turned into 38,” Vice Admiral Justin “Dan” McCarthy says with a laugh. In his typically understated way, Dan is talking about his brilliant career in the Navy.
For him, it’s not about one individual. It’s about the team. And it’s about serving. That’s what he’s done in the Navy. That’s what he’s done through his giving over the years to the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. And that’s what he’s done with an especially generous gift from his IRA.
It all started in 1969. The Vietnam War was raging, and Dan had just earned his degree in engineering from Oakland University. He joined the Navy with the intention of serving for two years. He went to Officer Candidate School and Navy Supply Corps School, and he was commissioned as a supply corps officer. This is the work he signed up for, and it’s the work he pursued his whole Navy career. “Once I got into the Navy,” Dan says, “I just really enjoyed it.” That’s why he stayed for 38 years.
But in the beginning, he didn’t realize how eye-opening the Navy would be. “My first plane ride in my life,” he says, “was from Michigan to Rhode Island for Officer Candidate School. It was a bit of a culture shock.” Little did he know what was to come.
Dan and his wife, Carol, both believe in serving our country and in helping Sea Service families in need through the Society.
Officer Candidate School was a challenge. He remembers getting very little sleep. “It’s a concentrated exposure to Naval history, tactics, procedures, and a lot more,” Dan says. “It’s an intense 90 days – physically and mentally demanding.” Still more was yet to come.
On his first ship, the USS Snohomish County (LST 1126), Dan was the supply officer. “Just like that, I was the department head and in charge,” Dan says, “and that was really exciting for a young officer.”
It was also on this ship that Dan went to Guam. “For someone who hadn’t been anywhere,” he says, “suddenly I was halfway around the world. I couldn’t believe it!”
From that ship, Dan went to the USS Holland (SS 1) stationed in Rota, Spain. Then from there he went to the USS Newport (LST 1179) for the maiden deployment to the Mediterranean of that first ship in its class. “I was getting terrific experience in the supply corps that I couldn’t have imagined as a young officer,” Dan says.
Then there was this: To get to the USS Newport, he was hooked onto a CH-46 helicopter. “There I was, being flown over the Mediterranean for about two miles, hanging a hundred feet below this helicopter,” he says. The pilot gently set Dan down onto the flight deck. “Now that was exciting,” he says, laughing.
All this happened in Dan’s first three years in the Navy. Promotion after promotion followed, leading eventually to flag positions as the senior logistician for the Pacific Fleet, Chief of Supply Corps and ultimately the Navy’s top logistician (OPNAV N4). “I was given unique opportunities throughout my career, thanks to the great people that supported me,” he says.
From the beginning, Dan was aware of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, and as an officer, he often recommended the Society to people who needed help.
One time when they were deployed at sea, a sailor came to Dan because the Sailor’s wife didn’t have the money for a mortgage payment. Dan told the Sailor to have his wife go to their local Society office. They got a loan that allowed them to keep their home while this sailor was deployed. “That was an early lesson in what the Society does,” Dan says.
And that’s why he has always donated to the Society, why he served on the Society’s board for ten years, and why he has just given a very generous gift for the Society from his IRA. The donation is a qualified charitable distribution from his IRA that goes directly to the Society, and because of that, there are no income taxes on his donation. But the main reason for his gift is to sustain the Society’s work in helping Sailors, Marines, and their families. As the COVID-19 situation strains us all, now more than ever, the need is great.
“The Navy provided me with opportunities I never could have dreamed of,” Dan says. “Supporting the Society is a way to help other Sea Service members have those opportunities, too. I know what the Society does, and I know this gift will help Sailors, Marines, and their families when they need it, so they can continue to serve. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all the reason I need to give.”