A presentation of a flag on September 20 was much more than just a ceremony to the McGatha family.
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McGatha was a World War II veteran who landed on Normandy Beach as an infiltrator, locating, mapping and reporting the locations of ammunition and fuel dumps located behind enemy lines.
He had eight jeeps lost,either by wrecking, being shot up or had to be left behind.
His mapping skills are in some military textbooks even today.
After the war, McGatha returned to Ohio and married Lorene Reed, and then moved to Oregon where he became a deputy for the Lane County Sheriff's Department in Eugene, Oregon. Their two daughters were born in Eugene. The family then moved to Florence, Oregon, where he became a city police officer and part-time morticians helper. The first of the couple's two sons was born in Florence.
The family eventually moved back to Ohio, where their youngest son was born, and McGatha worked for National Cash Register Company until his medical retirement in 1968 an the family moved to Arizona.
The family lived in and around Douglas for 30 years. McGatha volunteered for the Food Share program, Special Olympics and the Fish and Wildlife Service, He helped rebuild Ft. Rucker and the wildlife refuge east of Douglas. The presentation was make by Lorene, Deborah Kinder, Diana Fronatt, Duana (Carol), and Darrell (Phyllis) along with many grand and great-grandchildren.
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