Forrest S. McCartney regular air force in 1952. McCartney was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on May 1, 1983, which is the rank at which he eventually retired. In 1986 he was selected, by NASA Administrator James C. Fletcher, to be the fourth director of the Kennedy Space Center. McCartney held this position from August 31, 1986, until December 31, 1991. McCartney died in Palm Bay, Florida, on July 17, 2012, after a short illness. Forrest S. McCartney Forrest S. McCartney (March 23, 1931 – July 17, 2012) was a United States Air Force lieutenant general and former director of NASA's
Linda McCartney Festival premiered "Wide Prairie", a six-minute cartoon fantasy film she made with director Oscar Grillo. In April 1999, Paul McCartney performed at the "Concert for Linda" tribute at the Royal Albert Hall, which had been organized by two of their friends, Chrissie Hynde and Carla Lane. Among the artists that performed, besides Paul, were George Michael, the Pretenders, Elvis Costello, and Tom Jones. Paul closed the concert by dedicating the event to Linda, whom he called his "beautiful baby," and their children. In January 2000, Paul announced donations in excess of $2,000,000 for cancer research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer