For the past 10 years, the Lake Orion Police Department and American Legion Post 233 have honored a chosen veteran in Memorial Day observances.
Howard “Red” McCarrick, 90, and a 64-year resident of Lake Orion, was honored on Monday during the annual Memorial Day parade. He rode in the parade in a 1941 police car.
Lake Orion Police Chief Jerry Narsh read McCarrick’s biography to the crowd in downtown as the parade halted for a moment. McCarrick stood at attention to the admiration of the crowd.
“I have had the privilege of learning the amazing stories of military service during times of war and bravery and courage in battle that so many everyday members of our community have endured for the cause of liberty. I have also learned that these soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen are not every day Americans. They are heroes. Theirs are the stories that need to be told. These men and women are the reason we pause and remember,” Narsh said.
According to Narsh, McCarrick’s story began like many other young men and women during the early 1940s.
“On a whim he walked into a Pontiac Army Air Corps recruiting station in 1942 and signed up hoping to become a pilot.
“Red was assigned to aviation school in Gulf Port. Miss, where he worked as a mechanic and fueled aircraft. He heard they needed ball (belly) turret Gunners for the B24 Liberator Bombers and volunteered.
“McCarrick graduated from gunner training as a corporal in 1945, and was stationed in Washington flying the B-24’s on anti-submarine patrols.
“On one such patrol, the belly turret would not retract making it impossible to land the aircraft. Red had to jettison the turret door and was fed a rope through the bomb bay doors, where he was pulled from the turret and into the bomb bay while in flight.
“Red flew national security missions in B-24’s from bases in Washington, Arizona and California. Corporal McCarrick was honorably discharged in 1946, a year before the Army Air Corps became the US Air Force.”
McCarrick moved to Lake Orion in 1952 to raise a family, He and his wife, Ruth, raised six children in the community, where he worked for the Rochester Schools for 31 years before retiring in 1988.