Detective Lieutenant William L. McCarthy

"Uncle Bill", my mother's brother, was a hero to me long before he became a hero to be remembered for his last action as a police officer. As a child of the 60s I was swept up in the heroes of television. The good guys. I thrilled to the adventures of fictitious lawmen, protecting the innocent from the lowest in our society. My Uncle Bill was a wonder to me. He was one of the heroes, but, he came by our house regularly with a car full of his own kids and picked me up for adventures that had nothing to do with all of the heroics of a good guy. Yet, I always knew he was a real life example of what Hollywood was portraying in their stories that kept me awake some nights, considering the complicated mysteries that were solved by brave people. He was one of those brave people but he also patted me on the head and called me by my nickname in real life. As a teenager I ran into trouble and got caught and ended up in the county jail. I was afraid to mention that my uncle was Bill McCarthy. He showed up outside the bars and said hello and all five of the prisoners, who were moments before playing a game of flushing toilet paper down without breaking the perforation, ran to greet him. "Hello, Bill!", "Hey, Mac!"...It seemed he was a hero to them, too. I was shocked and confused. Uncle Bill made a couple of wise cracks and they all laughed a real laugh. He said, "Your new room mate over there is my nephew, if he hasn't already told you." "Oh, Hell no, Bill!", "He hasn't said a word. He's been shivering in his bunk! We'll keep an eye on him, Bill, don't worry." I thought, maybe they are just saying that until he's gone, then I'm gonna get it for sure. A skinny 17 year old punk. Until the lights went out that night, and way after, the stories didn't stop. They mostly started with something like, "If someone was gonna get me, I knew it was Bill McCarthy..." or, "I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to bring me in..", or, "I told 'em if wasn't for Bill I'd be in Florida right now..." They were telling the stories to each other, not to me. The laughter was so loud we were told to "shut up and go to sleep" by the attending guard more than once. Not only did they leave me alone, they treated me like a family member who needs to learn a lesson. That's the kind of hero Bill McCarthy was. He went into that trailer, that horrible day, like he had so many times before. He was allowed in because he was Bill McCarthy, a hero who preferred an exchange of words to an exchange of lead. People lived because he put himself between them and danger on his way home from work.

John Bowman
I am his nephew.

March 20, 2025