Jacksonville Maj. Gen. Michael D. Healy, 'an icon' in Special Forces community, honored Thursday
John Wayne tried to portray him in the movie, “The Green Berets.”
North Korean, Chinese, Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese troops tried to kill him.
They failed.
Retired Maj. Gen. Michael D. Healy earned the nickname, “Iron Mike,” in the Army Special Forces community.
The Jacksonville resident was formally recognized Thursday for what the Special Forces have known for years: Even among the toughest men in America, Healy was special.
The commanding general of the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Maj. Gen. James B. Linder, awarded Healy the Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment award, essentially enshrining him in the Special Forces ring of honor.
“Gen. Healy is not just significant in our community, he is a genuine icon,” Linder said. “Many will serve and a few are recognized.
“Then only a very, very small few walk in the formation that Gen. Healy does.”
Over a 35-year career, Healy earned three Distinguished Service Medals, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, seven Bronze Stars with Valor, two Purple Hearts and many more.
He enlisted in the Army as a private in 1945, two months before the Japanese signed their surrender ending the Second World War.
His first taste of combat came as an officer with the 4th Airborne Ranger Company in 1951 during a jump into the South Korean village of Munsan-Ni. There, according to a Feb. 1, 1981, article in his then-hometown Chicago Tribune, he was stabbed in the leg by a North Korean bayonet, but captured a vital hill.
He earned his nickname and a Bronze Star with Valor for his efforts.
In 1963, Healy went to Vietnam as a Special Forces colonel. He would ultimately serve five tours there, totaling nearly eight years.
Retired Col. Jack Tobin, the national president of the Special Forces Association, served with Healy there in 1969 on what was known as a MIKE force, an acronym for the mobile strike group command.
Tobin was a sergeant at the time and said the group was in total disarray when Healy arrived to take command.
“We thought they were going to disband us,” Tobin said. “Then he walked in … and the world became a wonderful place.”
MIKE forces were quick-reaction forces made up of U.S. Special Forces advisers and multiple indigenous tribes.
“We were the fifth MIKE Force, but each corps had one to react in their area,” Tobin said. “If it was really a horror story, we got it.
“We had 50 Americans, 2,500 Montagnards, 400 Chinese Nungs and we usually went out in company size.”
The groups normally faced daunting odds, he said.
“If it was a really bad area, the entire MIKE force went and we’d take on divisions,” Tobin said. “We normally fought in 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 odds. It was a joy.”
The men fought like lions, led by their commander “Iron Mike,” who had the following stamped on his dog tags: “If you are recovering my body, — — you.”
But “Iron Mike” had a heart, a big one according to those who know him — especially when it came to his men.
And as Healy received the award, he grew emotional.
“This is the highest honor that I have ever received, but it’s not really mine,” Healy said as tears rolled down his cheeks. “This honor belongs to every soldier I was ever honored and permitted to serve with.
“All the times that things would go very bad, another soldier stood by me.”
Healy said he thinks of the men he lost not monthly or weekly, but daily.
“They gave me their hearts and a lot of them, their lives,” he said. “I never forget them. Every night I speak to them.”
He mentioned some by name and rank.
“I am an emotional man, but I’m not a damned bit ashamed to cry for what I love,” he said. “And I loved them, my boys.”
No one argued.
Clifford Davis: (904) 359-4103
North Korean, Chinese, Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnamese troops tried to kill him.
They failed.
Retired Maj. Gen. Michael D. Healy earned the nickname, “Iron Mike,” in the Army Special Forces community.
The Jacksonville resident was formally recognized Thursday for what the Special Forces have known for years: Even among the toughest men in America, Healy was special.
The commanding general of the Army’s John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center, Maj. Gen. James B. Linder, awarded Healy the Distinguished Member of the Special Forces Regiment award, essentially enshrining him in the Special Forces ring of honor.
“Gen. Healy is not just significant in our community, he is a genuine icon,” Linder said. “Many will serve and a few are recognized.
“Then only a very, very small few walk in the formation that Gen. Healy does.”
Over a 35-year career, Healy earned three Distinguished Service Medals, two Silver Stars, the Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, seven Bronze Stars with Valor, two Purple Hearts and many more.
He enlisted in the Army as a private in 1945, two months before the Japanese signed their surrender ending the Second World War.
His first taste of combat came as an officer with the 4th Airborne Ranger Company in 1951 during a jump into the South Korean village of Munsan-Ni. There, according to a Feb. 1, 1981, article in his then-hometown Chicago Tribune, he was stabbed in the leg by a North Korean bayonet, but captured a vital hill.
He earned his nickname and a Bronze Star with Valor for his efforts.
In 1963, Healy went to Vietnam as a Special Forces colonel. He would ultimately serve five tours there, totaling nearly eight years.
Retired Col. Jack Tobin, the national president of the Special Forces Association, served with Healy there in 1969 on what was known as a MIKE force, an acronym for the mobile strike group command.
Tobin was a sergeant at the time and said the group was in total disarray when Healy arrived to take command.
“We thought they were going to disband us,” Tobin said. “Then he walked in … and the world became a wonderful place.”
MIKE forces were quick-reaction forces made up of U.S. Special Forces advisers and multiple indigenous tribes.
“We were the fifth MIKE Force, but each corps had one to react in their area,” Tobin said. “If it was really a horror story, we got it.
“We had 50 Americans, 2,500 Montagnards, 400 Chinese Nungs and we usually went out in company size.”
The groups normally faced daunting odds, he said.
“If it was a really bad area, the entire MIKE force went and we’d take on divisions,” Tobin said. “We normally fought in 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 odds. It was a joy.”
The men fought like lions, led by their commander “Iron Mike,” who had the following stamped on his dog tags: “If you are recovering my body, — — you.”
But “Iron Mike” had a heart, a big one according to those who know him — especially when it came to his men.
And as Healy received the award, he grew emotional.
“This is the highest honor that I have ever received, but it’s not really mine,” Healy said as tears rolled down his cheeks. “This honor belongs to every soldier I was ever honored and permitted to serve with.
“All the times that things would go very bad, another soldier stood by me.”
Healy said he thinks of the men he lost not monthly or weekly, but daily.
“They gave me their hearts and a lot of them, their lives,” he said. “I never forget them. Every night I speak to them.”
He mentioned some by name and rank.
“I am an emotional man, but I’m not a damned bit ashamed to cry for what I love,” he said. “And I loved them, my boys.”
No one argued.
Clifford Davis: (904) 359-4103
