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FEATURED STORY
In the Secret Service
The day Tim McCarthy, fellow agents, and doctors saved Ronald Reagan’s life and preserved the course of history.
BY SCOTT JONLICH JULIE JONLICH, CONTRIBUTING WRITER PHOTOGRAPHY BY JIM PRISCHING
The fate of the free world may have come down to a coin flip.
In March, Hinsdale Magazine sat down with Orland Park Chief of Police Timothy McCarthy to talk about his amazing career of service to the country, punctuated when he stood in the path of a bullet that wounded him and protected President Ronald’s Reagan’s life.
Special Agents McCarthy and Joseph Trainor Sr. both had administrative duty the morning of March 30th, before the attempted assassination by John Hinckley, Jr, of America’s 39th President. According to historic archives, Reagan was seriously wounded by a .22 Long Rifle bullet that ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and lodged in the left underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, and causing serious internal bleeding. McCarthy recounted the morning which was only the 69th day into Reagan’s presidency. “It was a rare occasion when we had extra agents to work the shift. There’s an advance team that goes out a week ahead of time no matter where the President goes to set up the security. And there’s a team of agents that goes whereever the President goes and we had one extra. We both had the same rank, so we flipped a coin.”
Trainor won the coin toss and took his post beneath the Oval Office, the Secret Service communications command post. McCarthy donned the now infamous blue suit he had purchased days before and went about his duties on protective detail for Mr. Reagan's trip to the Hilton to give a speech to the AFL-CIO in Washington D.C. McCarthy continued his remarkable story which might have changed the course of history if the casual exchange between two special agents went differently. “The shift leader said, well you are both equal to the rank of a sergeant, you’re the number one position around the President, one of you has to go. You’re both briefed up, so it doesn’t matter – everyone is interchangeable. So, we did flip a coin,’’ McCarthy reflected and now can laugh about it. “It was raining that day and the only reason I didn’t want to go was because the follow-up car was a big open-Cadillac which had a plastic roof that leaked! It was going to leak. It was raining, and I had a light-colored suit on. It was brand new - I mean brand new.”
A son of a Chicago south-side police sergeant, McCarthy’s light blue suit remains in the Ronald Reagan library today and has been cataloged into American history.
McCarthy’s interview with Hinsdale Magazine reveals how his secret service training and quick actions along with his fellow agents saved the life of one of the most popular presidents in recent history. Years later after the assassination attempt, Reagan stared down the communist Soviet Union when on June 12, 1987 he stood at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and told the world “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The speech led to the fall of communism on November 9, 1989.
Asked if he ever wonders what his actions meant in the course of world history, McCarthy put it into perspective
- ORLAND PARK POLICE CHIEF AND FORMER
SECRET AGENT TIM MCCARTHY
and said, “My role of a secret service agent is to ensure the President of the United States once elected, serves four years and may get reelected. It’s not to be changed other than an election or an impeachment, and certainly not by a moment of madness by a gunman. So, that’s the role of a secret serviceman.
It’s not protecting a republican or a democrat. It’s protecting the office of the president to ensure they serve their term constitutionally. And that’s what it’s all about,” said McCarthy whose team’s detail transitioned from the Jimmy Carter democratic administration.
This March marks the 39th year since agent McCarthy was wounded by one of 6 bullets from Hinckley’s gun. The videos that we have all seen countless times shows McCarthy squaring off to the shooter with his arms spread, shielding the president with his body as Special Agent in Charge Jerry Parr pushed President Reagan into awaiting limousine in front of the Hilton Hotel. Initial news reports said Agent McCarthy was shot in the abdomen and fell to the ground but McCarthy told Hinsdale Magazine he was shot in the right chest. “What happened, the bullet bounced around and went down through my lung, liver and diaphragm, so the pain was in the lower abdomen in the liver and thus I reached down there and it’s been the common myth that I was shot in the stomach or abdomen.”
“It was a small caliber and heavier calibers tend to through and through (the body) sometimes depending on the velocity and others bounce around and this one bounced around and ended up in my lower back.”
The bullet missed McCarthy’s heart by an inch. He said he was “lucky” and when asked how he felt at the moment when the shooting took place “It was one of those things – that you never think it's going to happen to you. You never think you are going to be in that position. You are trained for it intensely, on-going training all the time, then it happened and you hope that you only respond to your training because it's not a natural action to get in the way of a bullet. “McCarthy said the military is trained to ‘hit the deck’ and most police are trained to ‘hit the ground’ and in the secret service for presidential protection, agents are trained to cover the president and evacuate the president.
“If you notice, the military aid took cover and natural reaction, he’s military so they take cover and return fire. It’s not quite that way in a civilian world to be able to indiscriminately return fire but our job was to cover the president which I did and others to evacuate. That’s the training.” McCarthy’s described the moment the bullet entered his body and falling to the pavement. “It feels like a hot icepick, would be the only way I would be able to describe it because you can feel
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(the bullet) moving around. Not that I knew exactly what’s happening but I knew where the pain was.” McCarthy, said Hinckley was about ten feet away from him when he heard the gunfire but testified to the grand jury that he never saw him shoot but the sound gave him an indication of where the bullets were coming from but could not put a face with the gun during the mayhem. Video footage later revealed Hinckley was behind the ropes and came forward behind a few people and was partially shielded.
McCarthy described in detail to Hinsdale Magazine the events that were unfolding during the commotion as he laid on his side with his hands clutching his stomach all the while hearing his fellow agents on the radio shouting out commands. “My ear piece was still in and I could hear everything that was happening (on the
- TIM MCCARTHY
radio) that they were initially going to the White House and then Jerry Parr frisked the President and all of a sudden he saw frothy blood coming from his mouth.”
Moments later, McCarthy was picked up by an ambulance which drove him to George Washington Hospital where he would later talk to President Reagan after both going into emergency surgery. The barrage of six bullets also wounded Reagan’s Press Secretary James Brady and Washington D.C. Officer Thomas Delahanty.
The fourth bullet went into the armored window of the car, absorbing the bullet with its bullet-proof glass. The fifth round glanced off the right rear quarter panel and hit Reagan as he was being pushed into the car by Agent Parr. “In that car, the door opened backward, so there was an area of about four inches between the frame of the car and the open door,” said McCarthy indicating how close it came to the president’s life. The sixth shot went across the street, hitting a business office window without injuring anyone. As the president’s car raced away, three men lay wounded and it appeared at that moment President Reagan was safe and on the way to the White House. Hinckley’s first bullet hit Brady in the head above his left eye passing through underneath his brain and shattering his brain cavity, exploding on impact. Delahanty was struck in the back of the neck by the second shot, ricocheting off his spinal cord. Miraculously he survived but with permanent nerve damage to his left arm. The bullets were all designed to explode after hitting its target. Only the bullet that hit Brady exploded on contact. McCarthy is still on the pavement, in pain and can hear the radio messages back and forth. A female voice inquires, 'Has the president been shot?' and a mail voice in the car responds, “There's no indication the president has been shot.”
According to reports from Agent Parr, he initially checked the president and couldn't find a bullet wound, but Mr. Reagan kept complaining of pain in his side and was coughing up frothy blood. Agent Parr believed he may have broken a rib when he pushed the president into the limousine, so he redirected the car from the White House and to George Washington Hospital. McCarthy and Brady’s ambulance soon followed and emergency surgeons would await them.
McCarthy had no communication with the President up until the last day he was leaving after about 11 or 12 days. Reagan was there another week or so after that but on the last day, he and his wife were asked to come down and see the President and Mrs. Reagain before they left. The hospital room had bulletproof glass installed and tinted green in those days. The McCarthys were having a nice visit. “Two of our kids at the time I think were ages two and three. And the President was still hooked up to a lot of machines that were flashing red, green and so forth, which attracted the attention of youngsters. We were having a nice conversation with him and Mrs. Reagan. The President was talking about Spring-time in Washington, The Cherry Blossom Festival and that they will miss the parade. I mentioned how he is going to be fine and that he’ll see many more. My wife was getting nervous because the kids are really getting into the machines and I thought my kids might finish off what John Hinckley started," said McCarthy humorously.
“The Great Communicator” as Reagan was called by the press, had some final witty words for McCarthy as he walking out of the President’s hospital room. “He said: “Hold on a minute – It was McCarthy, Brady, Delahanty, Reagan -- what the hell did this guy have against the Irish?” McCarthy said Reagan had away to dealing with difficult instances and his humor was his way of dealing with difficult situations. “Everyone gets involved with critical incidents, and it’s how you deal with that type of thing,” said McCarthy of the President. “There are theories about how one-third of them can never really go back to what they were doing after a critical incident. As we now know it’s called PTSD TD (post-traumatic stress disorder) Another one-third it has a minor effect on them and can recover from counseling. And another one-third has no effect on them – and it had no effect on the President at all,’’ explained McCarthy who took inspiration from Reagan’s example. McCarthy's father was a Chicago police sergeant and learned that policing was a job with dangers and he was anxious to recover and get back on the job. It was about three months since the shooting and McCarthy went through his recovery, and agility tests before getting back on presidential detail over Reagan’s two terms and George H.W. Bush’s first term.
(In the next issue of Hinsdale Magazine, McCarthy discusses life after the secret service, mental health and his career as a 30-year Chief of Police in Orland Park, Illinois. www. HinsdaleMag.com) . ■
SMALL BUSINESS RELIEF GRANT PROGRAM
A program to support DuPage County small businesses and independent contractors impacted by COVID-19.
To assist small businesses and independent contractors impacted by COVID-19, DuPage County in conjunction with Choose DuPage is providing grants to use for employee retention payroll, utilities, and rent.
According to DuPage County Board Member Greg Hart, small businesses with fewer than 15 full-time employees and less than $1.5 million in annual gross revenue may apply for a grant up to $15,000. Independent contractors with more than 50% of their annual gross income coming from 1099 work and an annual gross income of less than $100,000 may apply for a grant up to $7,500. Businesses and contractors that have received other funds intended for this purpose (i.e. PPP, EIDL) are not eligible.
“The first tranche launched May 12 with over 1000 application submitted in a matter of a week which is incredible and speaks to the need for a program like this,” said Hart, who represents District 3 communities in the southeastern portion of DuPage County, including Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Burr Ridge, Westmont and parts of Naperville and Bolingbrook. Another round of funding is expected in mid-June.
Hart said the county recognized a demand beyond the dollars coming through from the Paycheck Protection Program. “We have small businesses here in DuPage, as well as in the country, who are the backbone of our economy and we wanted to make sure those business owners have an opportunity to get the support they need to continue operations.”
Hart said Reinvest DuPage wanted to allot a portion of the $170,000,000 federal CARES Act money allocated to DuPage as forgivable grants to DuPage-based businesses. “We understand businesses might need multiple sources of funding but we want to make sure that we’re helping as many people as possible. We want to give the first option to people and businesses that have not received any level of support,” Hart concluded.
The initial round of small business investment of seven million will likely be the first of additional rounds as more applications come in. The federal government determines the county CARES Act allotment based on its population and needs in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. For more information or to apply, visit www.ChooseDuPage.com/ reinvest-dupage ■
TO FIND OUT IF YOU QUALIFY, ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
• Are you a business or 1099 independent contractor located in DuPage County, Illinois? • Were you in business as of
February 15, 2020? • Has your business been affected by COVID-19, making this grant request necessary to support your ongoing operations? • If you are a small business, do you have less than 15 full-time employees, and less than $1.5 million in gross annual revenue? • If you are a 1099 independent contractor, does at least 50% of your gross income come from 1099 work, and is your annual gross income less than $100,000? If you answered YES to all of the above, you could be eligible to receive a grant from this program.
Note: you are not eligible if you have received other funds intended for this purpose (i.e. PPP, EIDL).
P U T YO U R H E A LT H IN YOUR HANDS
When it comes to your health, there is so much confusion out there. At Edward-Elmhurst Health we’re here to be a trusted voice. So if you need care, COVID or otherwise, please don’t hesitate to schedule an in-person appointment or video visit with the MyEEHealth app today. We’re here to help, and we’ve taken every precaution for your wellbeing and ours. DOWNLOAD THE APP TODAY!
