During World War II, he served as a Coast Guard Reserve officer on the USS Menges, a destroyer escort in the Mediterranean, in 1944, and earned a Bronze Star Medal for rescuing men when his ship was torpedoed.

During his tenure, he supported passage of Medicare, and obtained federal funding for the Fernbank Science Center and Planetarium.

Emory University conferred an Honorary Doctorate Degree on MacKay at its Sesquicentennial Convocation December 10, 1986.

In January 1967, he assembled some of his colleagues to discuss forming the group that today is known as one of the leading environmental organizations in the nation.

Sweetwater Creek, Panola Mountain, the Okefenokee Swamp, Chattooga River, Cumberland Island, and Fernbank are only a few of his legacies.

Notes Sources This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress