More detail on this person: Lt. Col. Daniel
O'Hara, 86 of St. Petersburg, Florida passed away
peacefully on December 5, 2013. He was born
January 29, 1927 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Son of Gerald A. Mustard & Mary Jervis. Daniel is
survived by his devoted wife, Bernice O'Hara, 91
and two children, Sandra (Homer) Kirkpatrick and
Daniel O'Hara Jr. and three grandchildren;
Stephanie Fealy, Stacie (Shaun) Clarke and
Samantha (Gerred) Staiger as well as multiple
great grandchildren. Dan is also survived by 6
brothers and sisters; John (Shirley) Mustard, Fred
Mustard, Marian Mustard, Nancy Mustard, Pam
Mustard and Sally Bailey and a multitude of nieces
and nephews.
Lt. Col. O'Hara dedicated his life to the armed
services, enlisting in the marine corps as a young
teenager where he was trained to be an artillery
forward observer. He had boots on the sand in
Guadalcanal and was awarded the purple heart for
sustaining multiple gunshot and bayonet wounds
during his time in Asia. Dan; as his friends and
family lovingly referred to him returned from the
Pacific theatre and reenlisted in the newly formed
Army Air corps and was retrained as an aviator.
Dan was instrumental in helping to form the army's
air wing helping to ferry some of the first twin
engine aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean for the
war effort. After thousands of hours of fixed wing
flying he again used his skilled hands to pilot
rotorcraft. Helping to develop the infamous bell
HU-1A Iroquois or "Huey" helicopter. Following
Dan's rotorcraft rating he was drafted into the
executive flight detachment and began flying the
presidential helicopter, then known as Army One.
Dan piloted the presidential whirly birds during
the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson
Administrations from 1958 to 1964. Dan served in
World War II, Korea and two tours in Vietnam. Lt.
Col. O'Hara retired from the Army in 1968.
After retiring, Dan worked in a myriad of aviation
jobs, some of which included running an air
ambulance service, an aircraft leasing company and
a freight forwarding company. As well as
representing the Federal Aviation Administration
as an Inspector and manager of Albert Whited
Airport. He was a parachutist and a wing walker in
the flying circus and overall an accomplished
aviator. Of these many accomplishments he
considered his greatest joys to be his family. He
was a true friend, officer and gentleman.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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