JOHN S. MCNULTY, JR., MAJ, USMC
John McNulty, Jr. '47
Lucky Bag
From the 1947 Lucky Bag:
John "S" McNulty, Jr.
Arlington, Virginia
A cosmopolitan Marine junior, Mac fought his way to the ranks of the Severn knowing that was the best way to strike for the little golden bars. Carstairs never lost that fighting spirit, he was always in there pitching for the best sack, best drag, and biggest week-end. Academics came easily, and Mac found the greatest enjoyment in playing the fixer, his mechanical genius covering everything from the door knob to a complicated radio. His complacency and smile won him a place as "our boy," and his slogan, "There is time for, and moderation in, everything," will enable him to keep any situation well in hand.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
John "S" McNulty, Jr.
Arlington, Virginia
A cosmopolitan Marine junior, Mac fought his way to the ranks of the Severn knowing that was the best way to strike for the little golden bars. Carstairs never lost that fighting spirit, he was always in there pitching for the best sack, best drag, and biggest week-end. Academics came easily, and Mac found the greatest enjoyment in playing the fixer, his mechanical genius covering everything from the door knob to a complicated radio. His complacency and smile won him a place as "our boy," and his slogan, "There is time for, and moderation in, everything," will enable him to keep any situation well in hand.
The Class of 1947 was graduated in June 1946 due to World War II. The entirety of 2nd class (junior) year was removed from the curriculum.
Loss
John was lost when his F4H Phantom crashed onto a narrow spit of land on Hooper's Island in the Chesapeake Bay on November 17, 1961.
Other Information
From the May 1962 issue of Shipmate:
JOHN McNULTY's many friends were deeply grieved by his untimely death shortly before Thanksgiving last year.
John was stationed at Patuxent River, Md., serving as Project Officer on the Navy's new carrier-based jet fighter, the F4H, at the time of his death. While conducting a test flight on the F4H, John crashed near Cambridge on the eastern shore of Maryland. The cause of the accident was unofficially attributed to anoxemia. Chapel services were held at the Naval Air Station and funeral services, with full military honors, were conducted a t Arlington. Many shipmates, classmates and their wives and numerous friends attended the services, evidencing the wide and warm esteem in which John was held.
Many will remember John or "Mac" from his Naval Academy and Service days. John was in the 12th and 6th companies at the Academy and was known for his quiet efficiency. Upon graduation, John entered the Marine Corps and trained at Camp Lejeune. His marriage to Gloria, formerly Gloria Weems, not long after graduation, was part of a storybook romance. They had been sweethearts, though often a continent or so apart, since childhood days on the Island of Guam. They shared a wonderful life in the Service, which found John receiving his wings in July of 1950 after flight training at Pensacola and Corpus Christi. Thereafter John was stationed at Cherry Point and served in the Korean conflict from September 1951 to July 1952, with the First Marine Division. He distinguished himself as a jet fighter pilot and the Commandant of the Marine Corps, in the name of the President of the United States, awarded John the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with gold and silver clusters in lieu of the second through fifth Air Medals for "heroism and extraordinary meritorious achievement in flights during operations against forces in Korea, 1951-1952." After Korea, John completed postgraduate work in aerological engineering at Monterey, Calif., and Princeton, N. J. In 1959 John was stationed at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, first under instruction and later as a Project Officer. He was promoted to rank of Major in 1959.
John is survived by his wife, Gloria. John was an only child; his mother and father died approximately two years after his graduation from the Naval Academy. Many of his company mates and others at the Naval Academy will remember visits of his mother and father. John's father was a much-decorated Marine Corps Major and his mother served as a WAVE in WWI.
To those whose lives touched that of John McNulty, his violent death will always be irreconcilable with the man because John was known as the least violent of men. His kindly good humor and willing helpfulness were always inspiring and refreshing. His good nature and personal warmth seemed like anachronisms in the world of today, but he will be best remembered for these qualities.
All who knew John extend deep and heartfelt sympathies to Gloria and share in her great loss, a loss shared as well by the Marine Corps and our country.
He was survived by his wife Gloria; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
Photographs
From his high school yearbook
Distinguished Flying Cross
From Hall of Valor:
(Citation Needed) - SYNOPSIS: John S. McNulty, Jr. (MCSN: 0-48901), United States Marine Corps, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism and extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight, in action against enemy forces in Korea.
General Orders: Heroes U.S. Marine Corps 1861 - 1955 (Jane Blakeney)
Action Date: Korean War
Service: Marine Corps
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