More detail on this person: It is unknown if
he was a helicopter pilot during the Vietnam Era
or not. Added by Mike Law based on email from
Phil. This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
03/10/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
From: Phil Poisson
For those of you who don't know me, I am Captain
Paul Stevens (USN, retired) and I am the president
of the Naval Helicopter Association Scholarship
Fund. This past December, the naval helicopter
community lost a good friend, a strong leader and
an intrepid aviator, CDR Mort McCarthy. Like many
of you, I served with Mort in several HS squadrons
and we roomed together on the USS Coral Sea's
around the world deployment in the early 80's.
Early in our career, we logged our first
helicopter night rescue together as we launch
while doing a weekend maintenance turn from NAS
Jax. He also took me on my first night vision
SH-60 flight, a truly humbling experience!
Needless-to-say, we shared a lot of good times and
great memories while flying the venerable SH-3
Seaking. Mort was the consummate aviator and
one of the best tacticians in our community. But
most of all, Mort was the consummate mentor for
those he worked with. I am sure I'm not the only
one who can say it was Mort that steered (often
dragging) me in the right career direction. He
was that good! Based on the comments of the
many people I spoke with at his memorial service,
Mort's strong leadership and determination to
succeed followed him into civilian life after he
retired from active duty. While it is hard to
picture Mort as a doting parent/grandpa, he was
that and more. There was great sadness among his
family and friends when he passed but great pride
in his life's accomplishments and family ties. He
will be missed by all who knew him.
I have served with a number of superb officers
during my 30 year career, all deserving of special
and lasting recognition but I don't want to see
this one become a passing memory in our
community. After talking with his family and a
number of former squadron mates, we have taken
initial steps to set up a Memorial Scholarship in
Mort's name that will be administered by the NHA
Scholarship Fund. This is only the second
memorial scholarship in the Fund and a great way
to recognize Mort's many contributions to our
community. The upcoming Rotor Review magazine
will have more on this but if you want to know
more about the workings of the Scholarship Fund
you can find it at
http://www.nhascholarshipfund.org. Donations to
establish this perpetual scholarship can be sent
to the CDR Mort McCarthy Memorial Scholarship,
Account # 117333633, North Island Credit Union,
PO Box 85833 San Diego Ca, 92186. The Fund is
a 501 C (3) corporation so donations are tax
deductable. We need your help to get this done
right.. ......Hold fast, Paul
- - - - - - - -
Dear Friends and Family,
I am sad to come on here and share with you that
Mort passed away on Friday morning at 2:45 am.
We were with him holding his hands and he went
very peacefully. It is hard to believe that this
disease was so powerful in a few short months.
Tomorrow is the 4 month marker from diagnosis. He
was in so much pain throughout this entire time so
we find great comfort in knowing he is pain
free.
As you know Mort would not want us to mourn him
he would want us to celebrate his life. He is
celebrating a reunion with his son Ben in Heaven
who passed away at the age of 19 in 1992. We feel
so much peace knowing that they are reunited and
that he is pain free.
We will be having a memorial as soon as possible.
We have details to work out so please check back
in a few days.
We thank you all for your love, support, and
prayers. Each and every one of you have touched
our lives during this journey. More to come
later,
Antoinette, Jodi, Katie, and Linda