More detail on this person: The Passing of
Harry McGinness
Earlier today, Sunday April 06, 2003 at 6:02 pm,
Harry J. McGinness III quietly and peacefully
passed away at home per his and Debbie's wishes.
Harry was 58 years old. Debbie, along with their
children Shawn and Heather, as well as a host of
family and friends, were at his side. We are
coordinating funeral arrangements through
Minshall-Shropshire Funeral in Media (Middletown).
Details will be provided as soon as they are
completed; however, it is likely the earliest a
memorial service locally would take place is
Saturday April 12, 2003. Interment is scheduled
at Arlington National Cemetery as soon as we can
arrange the details.
The love and compassion showed by all of you who
have touched the McGinness family over the years
and especially in the last few months, has been
tremendous and deeply appreciated by Debbie and
the kids.
Please share this note with those I have missed,
especially our external Customers who also were
extremely supportive over the past few months.
From: Bruce Oestreich Burial information: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
Please send additions or corrections to: HQ@vhpa.org VHPA Headquarters
Return to the Helicopter Pilot DAT name list
Return to VHPA web site
Date posted on this site:
10/23/2024
Copyright © 1998 - 2024 Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association
Harry J. McGinness the 3rd was 3rd generation
Army. Being four years younger than Harry, I
don't know much about Harry's Nam days because I
was in college in California watching banks burn
and all... Harry never told me specifically
anything about his service, only that he flew
big-wigs around in helicopters. One newspaper
account states that, "He was the MH-47E program
manager, a position which enabled him to have
contact with his friends in the Army 160th Special
Operations Regiment, the Night Stalkers." If that
meant that he was one of them, I do not know.
Regarding Harry's medical condition -- he was hard
as nails, physically, even into his middle age.
As well-honed as he was, it made his illness all
the more humbling - starting with a spot on his
tongue and ending with the splinic nerve in his
leg being attacked by cancer. Doctors scraped
away what cancer they could and tried to irradiate
the rest. The official diagnosis was squamous
cell carcinoma. He is buried in Site 67 at
Arlington National Cemetery.
Holly Bundy
Harry was my brother, 12-13 years older. I didn't
really know him, but my respect for his life is
great. He helped me buy my house, and I will
always be in awe of his accomplishments. I didn't
really know the extent of his efforts unitil his
burial at Arlington in 2003. The list of awards
was long and surprising to me because he never
boasted, or even spoke of his experience in Viet
Nam He was a good person.
From: John McGinness