Daniel O'Hara

Lt. Col. Daniel O'Hara, 86 of St. Petersburg, Florida passed away peacefully on December 5, 2013. He was born January 29, 1927 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Son of Gerald A. Mustard & Mary Jervis. Daniel is survived by his devoted wife, Bernice O'Hara, 91 and two children, Sandra (Homer) Kirkpatrick and Daniel O'Hara Jr. and three grandchildren; Stephanie Fealy, Stacie (Shaun) Clarke and Samantha (Gerred) Staiger as well as multiple great grandchildren. Dan is also survived by 6 brothers and sisters; John (Shirley) Mustard, Fred Mustard, Marian Mustard, Nancy Mustard, Pam Mustard and Sally Bailey and a multitude of nieces and nephews. Lt. Col. O'Hara dedicated his life to the armed services, enlisting in the marine corps as a young teenager where he was trained to be an artillery forward observer. He had boots on the sand in Guadalcanal and was awarded the purple heart for sustaining multiple gunshot and bayonet wounds during his time in Asia. Dan; as his friends and family lovingly referred to him returned from the Pacific theatre and reenlisted in the newly formed Army Air corps and was retrained as an aviator. Dan was instrumental in helping to form the army's air wing helping to ferry some if the first twin engine aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean for the war effort. After thousands of hours of fixed wing flying he again used his skilled hands to pilot rotorcraft. Helping to develop the infamous bell HU-1A Iroquois or "Huey" helicopter. Following Dan's rotorcraft rating he was drafted into the executive flight detachment and began flying the presidential helicopter, then known as Army One. Dan piloted the presidential whirly birds during the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson Administrations from 1958 to 1964. Dan served in World War II, Korea and two tours in Vietnam. Lt. Col. O'Hara retired from the Army in 1968. After retiring, Dan worked in a myriad of aviation jobs, some of which included running an air ambulance service, an aircraft leasing company and a freight forwarding company. As well as representing the Federal Aviation Administration as an Inspector and manager of Albert Whited Airport. He was a parachutist and a wing walker in the flying circus and overall an accomplished aviator. Of these many accomplishments he considered his greatest joys to be his family. He was a true friend, officer and gentleman.