Twentieth Century Warrior: The Life and Service of Major General Edwin D. Patrick [Hardcover]

Wilson Allen Heefner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Maj. Gen. Edwin Patrick's 27-year army career included command of a machine-gun company in WWI, an interwar stint as instructor at Georgia's Fort Benning infantry school and command of the Sixth U.S. Division in the New Guinea and Philippine campaigns of WWII. Patrick died of wounds received on Luzon on March 14, 1945, and was one of only three division commanders to perish as a result of enemy action. His leadership of the Sixth Division is a textbook case history of an Old Army general officer exerting strong personal leadership and occasionally exhibiting common command weaknesses such as impatience and overboldness. This first-class account of the education and training of a thorough professional in the Regular Army and his validation on the field of battle will be useful to students of American military history. Heefner retired from the army after 41 years of service as an enlisted man, infantry leader and medical officer. Illustrations.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: White Mane Pub; First edition (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942597818
• ISBN-13: 978-0942597813
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,634,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Wilson A. Heefner, M.D., was born in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, in 1931, and graduated from Waynesboro Senior High School in 1949. Immediately following graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army, beginning a forty-one-year military career as an enlisted man, infantry officer, and medical officer in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and U.S. Army Reserve, and retired in the grade of colonel. He holds degrees from Gettysburg College (B.A.), the University of Maryland School of Medicine (M.D.), and the University of Hawaii (M.A., U.S. History), and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and the U.S. Army War College. He was awarded the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the Korean Service Medal. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha, the national medical honor society. Doctor Heefner is married to Patrica, and has two children and four grandchildren. He currently resides in Stockton, California.

After retiring from a twenty-eight-year career as a pathologist and nuclear physician he began a second career as a military historian and author. He has authored three published biographies, "Twentieth Century Warrior: The Life and Service of Major General Edwin D. Patrick"(1995), "Patton's Bulldog: The Life and Service of General Walton H. Walker" (2001), and "Dogface Soldier: The Life of General Lucian K. Truscott, Jr." (2010).

In September 2011 he will lead a tour of the Rhone valley in southern France, which General Truscott's VI Corps liberated after its successful landing along the French Riviera on August 15, 1944, "The Forgotten D-Day." The tour has been organized by MilSpec Tours, which has a long history of conducting tours for military veterans in Europe and Asia. Those desiring more information about the tour should contact Doctor Heefner at [phone] or [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Commanding General 6th Inf Division, DOW Luzon 1945., December 19, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Twentieth Century Warrior: The Life and Service of Major General Edwin D. Patrick (Hardcover)

General Patrick was by all accounts a commander who combined combat efficiency with a kind and considerate nature, and the fact of his death at the head of his division speaks for itself. (There were only two other American division commanders killed in action in World War II; Rose of the 3rd Armored, and Wharton of the 28th Infantry Divisions).
The main interest of this work however is the careful delineation of the training of officers in the period between the World Wars, when the emaciated American Army had to substitute staff schools and war colleges for actual command of large formations. General Patrick was a product of this training and his story demonstrates how well the system served the American people.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of this page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A typical WWII general, March 30, 2008

By 

Michael Surace "ETO amateur historian" (Binghamton, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twentieth Century Warrior: The Life and Service of Major General Edwin D. Patrick (Hardcover)

General Patrick was one of the very few General officers killed in battle during WWII. This study shows how the general was a the typical product of the inter-war Army educational system. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested on how the army turned out officers ready to command in a global war.