Michael D. Healy

Major General Michael D. Healy (born June 13, 1926, in Chicago) is a retired general officer in the United States Army who spent 35 years serving in the military, completing tours in Korea and Vietnam. Healy began his career with parachute training in Japan, then attended a number of Army Colleges, including Ranger School. He entered the Korean War as a Company Commander with the Airborne Rangers, a newly formed unit of the Army. Most of his career was spent in Vietnam, where he served five and a half tours, leading the 5th Special Forces group for almost 20 months, and earning him his first Distinguished Service Medal.

Early life and career
Michael D. Healy was born on June 13, 1926, in Chicago, IL., the first of four sons. His father, Daniel Healy, served as the Chief of Police of Chicago. In 1945, when he was 19 years old, Healy enlisted in the United States Army at Fort Sheridan, IL. One year later, he graduated from Infantry OCS at Fort Benning, Georgia. Years later, he would be inducted into the OCS Hall of Fame. Private Healy’s first assignment, with the 1st Cavalry Division and the Army of Occupation in Japan, involved investigation of Russian-backed Communists in post-war Japan. While in Japan, Healy completed intense parachute training, which would later earn him a master parachutist badge. It was there, too, that he met his wife, Jacklyn, the daughter of a US prosecutor in the Japan War Trials. Healy served many troop assignments in Japan until 1946, when he returned to the United States and married Jackie. Healy then attended the United States Army Airborne School, advanced physical training for paratroopers, and Ranger School, a counter intelligence school.

Korea
In 1951, then-Lieutenant Healy entered the Korean war as a company commander with the 4th Airborne Ranger Company. His leadership and courage were displayed on his first day of combat in March 1951, in Munsan-Ni, a tiny village in the South Korea. His company, the 3rd Platoon, was assigned to execute a parachute assault on the village. Because he was an extra officer on the mission, the senior officers loaded him down with extra map cases and spools of wire. The youthful Healy parachuted onto the roof of a hut and into a fire-fight of machine guns. Nine of Healy’s fellow soldiers were killed in the first three minutes of the attack. The 3rd Platoon was ordered to hold down the enemy at the base of a hill, while a regimental brigade attacked from above. When the platoon commander refused to proceed, Healy took charge. With his platoon under heavy fire, Healy and four others charged up the hill, managing to weave their way through the trenches. He and the four volunteers held the hill until the regiment finally arrived. For his actions in Munsan-Ni, Healy was awarded a Bronze Star Medal. It was his bravery there that established his nickname—Iron Mike. Upon his return to the United States, Healy attended the Infantry Officers Career Course and was subsequently assigned to the Special Warfare Center, Ft. Bragg, NC. For the next few years, he attended several more Army schools, including the US Marine Corps School, the USMC Officers Advanced School, Quantico, VA, and finally the Command and General Staff College in 1960 where Healy began to earn his reputation as a foreign intelligence specialist, and soon the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence recruited him as Chief, Special Warfare Operations and Foreign Intelligence Branch.

First tour
After his time in Korea, Healy was promoted to Colonel. He worked with the Special Forces in Third World and Iron Curtain countries, familiarizing himself with the local people and their combat abilities. In July, 1963, Healy was chosen for the sensitive position of Operations Officer and Senior Adviser to the Vietnamese Special Forces. He was entering Vietnam at a time when relatively few Americans were there. As Senior Adviser, Healy handpicked South East Asian mercenaries whom he trained and molded into mobile guerrilla battalions. These indigenous mercenaries were hired to work for the American military. The South Vietnamese troops could not always respond promptly enough to save American troops who were in danger, so Healy relied heavily on his mobile units, which were called “Mike Forces,” a term that is now part of the Army lexicon.

Second tour
From January to May 1964, Healy served as Liaison Officer to the South Vietnamese Special Forces. In June of that year he assumed the role of Assistant Personnel Officer HQ 5SFG(A). In December 1964 Healy became the Operations and Training Officer HQ 5SFG(A). Meanwhile, in August, 1964, Healy assumed command of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (Geronimo), 101st Airborne Division. He remained in command of the 1/501st for almost two years, before he was honored by being selected for the Army War College,. But Healy felt a greater need to lead his Geronimo Battalion back to battle in Vietnam, so he returned in June, 1966 for his second tour of duty. After nearly thirty months of consecutive battalion command, Healy decided to accept the offer from the Army War College. In 1967, after completing his courses, he was selected to serve as the Executive Officer and Special Assistant to the Deputy US Ambassador during the sensitive formation and initial operation of the Office of Civil Operations in Vietnam.

Third tour
Healy returned to Vietnam in March, 1969, as Commander of Special Troops and Assistant Chief of Staff, G1, XXIV Corps. He commanded the Special Forces until August, when he took charge of the 1st Brigade, 9th Infantry Division in the Mekong Delta.

Fourth tour
Three weeks after returning to Hawaii with his brigade, Healy was recalled to Vietnam to command the 5th Special Forces Group, and also to mend the reputation of the Green Berets, after the widely publicized murder of a double agent. Healy commanded the 5th Special Forces group for nearly twenty months before returning to the United States in March, 1971. For his prompt return and lengthy service, Healy was honored with the Distinguished Service Medal, his first of two. Healy was next assigned as Chief of the Pacific Division and Deputy Director of Operations Directorate. He was then promoted to Brigadier General and assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Fifth Tour
Brigadier General Healy spent the next eight months at Ft. Bragg, NC, as the Assistant Division Commander, 82nd Airborne Division. In 1972, for the second time, General Abrams requested his help. The war was drawing to an end, and Abrams needed the most qualified men leading the American troops. So in June, Brig. Gen. Healy said goodbye to his wife and six sons and returned to Vietnam for his last combat tour of duty. He was the Commanding General, 2nd Regional Assistance Command, Military Region Two. He remained in command until all US combat forces were ordered out of Vietnam. In 1963, Healy had been one of the first Americans to enter Vietnam. Ten years later he was still there, commanding a major portion of the US fighting forces at the end of US involvement.

Retirement
After Vietnam, COL Healy took command of the John F. Kennedy Institute for Special Warfare, Ft. Bragg, and was promoted to Major General. He remained in command of the Institute until October 1975, when he was sent on his last overseas assignment. General Healy was stationed in Ankara, Turkey, as the Chief of Staff of Combined Military Planning. For two years he oversaw the joint military maneuvers around oil fields in the Mideast for the now defunct Central Treaty Organization, CENTO. In 1977, Gen. Healy returned to the United States to command the Army Readiness Region V at Ft. Sheridan, where, 35 years before, he had enlisted as a private. This was General Healy's last assignment. He retired from active duty on February 28, 1981, after 35 years, seven months and 29 days of dedicated military service.

Honors and awards
Throughout his 35-year military career, Michael Healy was honored with many medals and awards to commemorate his hard work and dedication to the American Military. His decorations include Distinguished Service Medal (three awards), Silver Star (two awards), Legion of Merit (three awards), Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with "V" (Valor) Device (six awards), Air Medal with "V" Device (four awards), Army Commendation Medal (two awards), Navy Commendation Medal with "V" Device, Purple Heart Medal (two awards), twelve Decorations of Republic of Vietnam. Gen. Healy is also one of the few American soldiers to earn honors from other countries' armed forces. He received Parachute badges from Republic of Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Korea, Iran and Pakistan, as well as a Master Parachutist Badge from the U.S. Army.

Legacy
General Healy has been the inspiration for two novels and also a feature film. In his book, "Viet Journal," the late author James Jones wrote of Healy, "There was always one thing about Healy. You knew his aggressive physical courage was monumental and that his nerves were steel."