Leonard Dudley Heaton (November 19, 1902 – September 10, 1983) was

Surgeon General of the United States Army The Surgeon General of the United States Army is the senior-most officer of the U.S. Army Medical Department (AMEDD). By policy, the Surgeon General (TSG) serves as Commanding General, U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) as well as head of the ...

from 1959 to 1969.

Biography

Youth and education

Heaton was born in

Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in and the county seat of Wood County, West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's fourth-largest city and the largest city in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna metrop ...

. As an undergraduate he attended

Denison University Denison University is a private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. The college was first called the Granville Literary and ...

Granville, Ohio Granville is a village in Licking County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,646 at the 2010 census. The village is located in a rural area of rolling hills in central Ohio. It is east of Columbus, the state capital, and west of Newa ...

graduating in 1922. He then attended the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one ...

where he would earn his medical degree four years later.

Service years

Heaton was commissioned as a

first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...

in the Medical Corps Reserve immediately following his graduation from medical school. In 1940 he was assigned as Chief of Surgical Service in Hawaii. He was among the attending surgeons in the aftermath of the attack on

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

, where he operated and treated the wounded for over 24 hours straight. With the entrance of the United States into World War II, Heaton was assigned to the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...

. Soon after D-Day, he was appointed as the Commander of the 802d Hospital Center in Blandford, England where he had over 12,000 people working under him. After the war, Heaton was promoted to

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointe ...

in 1948. He held many posts including being the commander of the

Walter Reed General Hospital The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC)known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951was the U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in the District of Columbia, it served more than 150,000 active and ret ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morg ...

. He became the tenth officer to command the hospital. General Heaton was made Surgeon General of the Army in June 1959, and was promoted to Lieutenant General (three stars) in September, 1959. He was the first Army medical officer to attain this rank, and served a longer term as Surgeon General than any other officer since 1931. Aside from administrative duties, Heaton continued to surgically operate. Among his many patients included President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Secretary of State

John Foster Dulles John Foster Dulles (, ; February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) was an American diplomat, lawyer, and Republican Party politician. He served as United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959 and was briefly ...

, and Generals of the Army

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

, and George C. Marshall. As surgeon general, he oversaw the expansion and deployment of Army medical services to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...

and advocated for the increased use of helicopters for

medical evacuation Medical evacuation, often shortened to medevac or medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to wounded being evacuated from a battlefield, to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of a ...

operations in the Army.

Retirement

Heaton retired from the Army in 1969. He and his wife moved to Pinehurst, North Carolina where they lived quietly until his final illness in 1983. Admitted to Walter Reed in July, he died at his beloved hospital on September 10, 1983. Heaton's funeral service was held at the Village Chapel in Pinehurst, North Carolina with Chaplain Harry Duncan officiating. He is buried in the Pinelawn Memorial Park in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Heaton's wife, Sara, joined him in death at the age of 95 on December 27, 2000, and is buried at his side in the Pinelawn Memorial Park.Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 18 June 2019), memorial page for Sara Hill Richardson Heaton (12 Jun 1905–19 Dec 2000), Find A Grave Memorial no. 199461538, citing Pinelawn Memorial Park, Southern Pines, Moore County, North Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Donald Hall (contributor 49091123).

Awards and decorations

References

External links

US Army Medical Department Medical History Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heaton, Leonard D. 1902 births 1983 deaths Military personnel from West Virginia American surgeons Denison University alumni People from Parkersburg, West Virginia Physicians from West Virginia Surgeons General of the United States Army Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Service Order (Vietnam) University of Louisville alumni 20th-century American physicians 20th-century surgeons