Site search
sponsored by
News
ENLARGE
David Henley
|
ENLARGE
|
David C. Henley/LVN photo Former Navy Chief Warrant Officer and deputy sheriff Eugene "Mac" McMullin balances his Navy hat on one knee while keeping an eye on his dog, Sam, a 9-year-old "part-dachshund and part-something else."
|
Not many in Fallon can match the exciting and dynamic life led by Eugene F. "Mac" McMillin.
A former deputy sheriff, private investigator and career Navy man who served aboard several Navy warships during three wars, Mac has experienced adventures that few of us can claim.
A long-time Fallon resident who's still going strong at age 83, Mac told me last week that his most challenging and death-defying moment occurred about 30 years ago when he was serving as a deputy sheriff in Lander County.
"I received a call on my car radio from the dispatcher in Austin that a man was acting suspiciously at a gas station and store in a remote area of Smoky Valley.
"I was on patrol at the time, and headed out there full speed. When I got there, I saw a disheveled-looking character walking erratically in the parking lot, and the store owner told me he was trying to sell drugs.
A former deputy sheriff, private investigator and career Navy man who served aboard several Navy warships during three wars, Mac has experienced adventures that few of us can claim.
A long-time Fallon resident who's still going strong at age 83, Mac told me last week that his most challenging and death-defying moment occurred about 30 years ago when he was serving as a deputy sheriff in Lander County.
"I received a call on my car radio from the dispatcher in Austin that a man was acting suspiciously at a gas station and store in a remote area of Smoky Valley.
"I was on patrol at the time, and headed out there full speed. When I got there, I saw a disheveled-looking character walking erratically in the parking lot, and the store owner told me he was trying to sell drugs.
"I called for backup, and soon I was joined by Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Rick Banovich. When the suspect saw us, he ran over to his car and started tossing marijuana into a nearby field.
"The suspect then got back into his car, and Banovich and I approached him as he sat in the front seat. We asked for his ID, and he reached into the glove compartment. He pulled out a wicked-looking 357 Ruger revolver and pointed it at my stomach. I thought I was a goner.
"But Banovich reached through the car window and punched the guy square in the face. He dropped his gun and we handcuffed him and took him to the jail in Austin. Banovich saved my life. We learned later the fellow had recently been released from an Oregon mental hospital. By the way, his gun was fully loaded when he stuck it in my stomach," Mac told me.
Mac began his Navy career when he enlisted at the age of 17 after graduating from high school in Burlingame, Calif. An only child and fatherless at the age of 5 after his dad drowned while rescuing a swimmer in San Francisco Bay, McMillin's first sea duty was aboard a tiny minesweeper. The year was 1942, and the ship was sent to the Aleutians.
"We discovered some Japanese mines and destroyed them, and then I off to the Pacific aboard the carrier USS Yorktown. My next assignment was on the four-stacker destroyer USS Rathburne. We were patrolling in the Pacific and dropped "ashcans" (depth charges) on a Japanese submarine. I am not sure if we sunk her," Mac continued.
"The suspect then got back into his car, and Banovich and I approached him as he sat in the front seat. We asked for his ID, and he reached into the glove compartment. He pulled out a wicked-looking 357 Ruger revolver and pointed it at my stomach. I thought I was a goner.
"But Banovich reached through the car window and punched the guy square in the face. He dropped his gun and we handcuffed him and took him to the jail in Austin. Banovich saved my life. We learned later the fellow had recently been released from an Oregon mental hospital. By the way, his gun was fully loaded when he stuck it in my stomach," Mac told me.
Mac began his Navy career when he enlisted at the age of 17 after graduating from high school in Burlingame, Calif. An only child and fatherless at the age of 5 after his dad drowned while rescuing a swimmer in San Francisco Bay, McMillin's first sea duty was aboard a tiny minesweeper. The year was 1942, and the ship was sent to the Aleutians.
"We discovered some Japanese mines and destroyed them, and then I off to the Pacific aboard the carrier USS Yorktown. My next assignment was on the four-stacker destroyer USS Rathburne. We were patrolling in the Pacific and dropped "ashcans" (depth charges) on a Japanese submarine. I am not sure if we sunk her," Mac continued.
Mac's following assignment was aboard the USS Pine Island, a seaplane tender based in San Diego. He make chief while serving on the Pine Island and was in Tokyo Bay on Sept. 2, 1945 when the Japanese surrendered to Gen. Douglas MacArthur in ceremonies aboard the USS Missouri.
Korean War service followed, and Mac then left the Navy to join the Lander County sheriff's office.
"I stayed in the Navy Reserve, and when the Vietnam War began I was called back into the Navy.
"I was assigned to the USS Hornet and we were in the Battle of Tonkin Gulf. We lost several planes from enemy shore fire," he reminisced. "I made Chief Warrant Officer aboard the Hornet."
McMillin's 27-year Navy career ended following duty at Sandia Base in New Mexico, where he instructed Navy and Air Force students in nuclear weapons.
Mac and his wife, Mary, raised three girls and three boys. All his sons were in the military. Two of them were Navy men, one serving on boats in Vietnam, and the other on a minesweeper, also in Vietnam.
Korean War service followed, and Mac then left the Navy to join the Lander County sheriff's office.
"I stayed in the Navy Reserve, and when the Vietnam War began I was called back into the Navy.
"I was assigned to the USS Hornet and we were in the Battle of Tonkin Gulf. We lost several planes from enemy shore fire," he reminisced. "I made Chief Warrant Officer aboard the Hornet."
McMillin's 27-year Navy career ended following duty at Sandia Base in New Mexico, where he instructed Navy and Air Force students in nuclear weapons.
Mac and his wife, Mary, raised three girls and three boys. All his sons were in the military. Two of them were Navy men, one serving on boats in Vietnam, and the other on a minesweeper, also in Vietnam.
The third son was an Army medic, assigned to a military hospital in Vietnam.
"At one time, all of my boys and I were serving in Vietnam. My wife says that turned her hair white real fast," Mac said.
Mac's son-in-law, who is married to daughter Kathleen, also has a distinguished military career. He is John Lewy, now a Churchill County sheriff's sergeant who reached the rank of USAF colonel while directing security for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell.
On his living room wall, Mac proudly displays a photograph of Powell and Lewy together at a Pentagon Ceremony.
Following his Navy service, Mac and his family settled in Fallon, where he operated a private detective agency for a time and then joined the sheriff's office in 1969.
"At one time, all of my boys and I were serving in Vietnam. My wife says that turned her hair white real fast," Mac said.
Mac's son-in-law, who is married to daughter Kathleen, also has a distinguished military career. He is John Lewy, now a Churchill County sheriff's sergeant who reached the rank of USAF colonel while directing security for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Colin Powell.
On his living room wall, Mac proudly displays a photograph of Powell and Lewy together at a Pentagon Ceremony.
Following his Navy service, Mac and his family settled in Fallon, where he operated a private detective agency for a time and then joined the sheriff's office in 1969.
Although he's now retired from full-time duty with the CCSO, he remains a part-time employee, teaching Nevada law, field training and weapons tactics to new officers. He also holds the rank of lieutenant in the Sheriff's Reserve.
Sheriff Richard Ingram told me that Mac "does a great job for us. He is a mentor and father figure to our men and maintains our training records and ensures all our officers meet state requirements in CPR, weapons and radar."
Mac is one of the most active people I know in the community. No grass grows under his feet. His stories about Navy and sheriff's service are non-stop.
"I may be 83, but I've got another good 20 years ahead of me," Mac says.
David C. Henley is Publisher Emeritus of the LVN.
Sheriff Richard Ingram told me that Mac "does a great job for us. He is a mentor and father figure to our men and maintains our training records and ensures all our officers meet state requirements in CPR, weapons and radar."
Mac is one of the most active people I know in the community. No grass grows under his feet. His stories about Navy and sheriff's service are non-stop.
"I may be 83, but I've got another good 20 years ahead of me," Mac says.
David C. Henley is Publisher Emeritus of the LVN.
