Mr. McCargo is a retired Sergeant Major in the U.S. Marine Corps, being one of the first African Americans to reach that senior post in the Corps. He worked for fifteen years as an assistant to the superintendent of the Oceanside Unified School District and as a truancy officer for the district. He shared his belief in education as a key to success with all the young people that he knew. He has been active in the NAACP, his church, and as a volunteer on the Library Board of Trustees and other City commissions. He has influenced many other persons in the community during the past thirty years, both while on active duty and in his community activities, through his balanced, unassuming approach to life. The nomination for him read, "Though Jim McCargo has retired twice - from the Marine Corps and then from the school district - he has never retired from community services. In response to all the thanks extended to him, his sole response has always been, ‘I am blessed.’"