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MEMORIAL ARTICLE
Published Assembly Jun '94
Harrison Howell Dodge Heiberg Jr. No.15524 Class of 1946
Died 30 November 1990 in Alexandria, Virginia, aged 65 years.
Interment: United States Air Force Academy Cemetery, Colorado
Springs, Colorado.
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Hei Heiberg set out to be a military planner from
birth. To ensure that his birthday would forever be observed
as a holiday, complete with parades, he made his premature appearance
at Camp Marfa, Texas on 11 November 1925. Weighing four pounds,
two ounces, including the blanket, he spent his first days in
a dresser drawer, so unprepared were his parents for this early
arrival. However, by the age of six months, he was ready for
his first and only four-year tour at West Point, albeit under
the sponsorship of his father, newly posted to the Department
of Mathematics. Hei shared his nickname with his father (USMA
Class of '19), and seemed destined to follow in the Cavalry tradition
started by his grandfather, Elvin (USMA 1896). He was on a horse
before he could walk, and growing up at Forts Knox, Riley, Leavenworth
and Huachuca allowed him the opportunity to acquire a respectable
number of horse show trophies and ribbons. However, a whole new
world opened up after his first flight in an airplane at the
age of fourteen when he was living in the Philippines with his
mother and stepfather (Captain James B. Edmunds). He completed
his first two years of high school in Manila and returned to
the States in 1940 to spend a year at Fort Knox, Kentucky with
his father, step-mother and sister Heide. He joined the Edmundses
in 1941 to spend his senior year at Western High School in Washington,
DC with first cousins Lee (USMA '46) and Wolcott (USMA '50) Parmly.
He attended Sullivan's Preparatory School after graduation while
joining cousin Lee in treading the Halls of Congress seeking
political appointments to West Point. It was a challenge for
a couple of Army Brats, but their perseverance paid off, and
the two joined the Class of 1946 on 1 July l943.
Another dream was fulfilled with Hei's selection
as an Air Cadet. His roommates, Fred Thomas and Brooke Albert,
were both New Englanders and several years older than Hei. They
called him "the Kid," subjected him to open windows
on cold winter nights and maintained a paternal watch over his
blossoming romance with Mimi Branson, a former schoolmate at
Western High and "girl almost-next-door!" Hei and Mimi
were engaged Christmas of yearling year. He graduated a second
lieutenant with his wings in the Army Air Corps.
Hei and Mimi were married on 2 September 1946 in
Texas. They honeymooned in Arizona as Hei made his transition
to fighter aircraft. Orders to Germany in January 1947 meant
the first of many separations, but Mimi arrived in Weisbaden
in time for their first anniversary. Hei's first flying assignment
was with the newly activated 86th Fighter Wing at Neubiburg.
His duties included flying escort for the Berlin Airlift, ferrying
planes to Turkey and Iran and patrolling the eastern European
border. Only by accident was he home the week his daughter Karen
was born in September 1948.
After Hei returned to Washington, DC shortly before
the birth of H. H. D. H. III (Hal) in April 1950, his professional
life was shadowed by being medically grounded. What was later
determined to be an incorrect diagnosis by a flight surgeon in
Germany was nevertheless repeatedly upheld by medical boards
that refused to review the initial finding. However, life had
to go on, and by then Hei had another goal in mind. The Air Force
Academy was rapidly becoming more than just a dream, and Hei
was determined to be in on the ground floor. When he arrived
in Denver, Colorado in September 1954, Hei became the first officer
to sign in as a member of the Commandant's staff. He wrote the
order that established the Air Force Academy and swore in, individually,
the first class of cadets on 11 July 1955 before the public ceremony.
Through a twist of fate, he also trained the first falcon mascot
and became an internationally known falconer over the next twenty
years. His extensive falconry library and collection have been
donated to the World Center for the Birds of Prey in Boise, Idaho,
and his slides and written history are now part of the Air Force
Academy library. His first Academy tour also reaped another benefit:
a sympathetic flight surgeon who went to bat for him, resulting
in Hei's return to flying status. With six years to make up,
Hei lost no time. In his next assignment to Osan, Korea, he qualified
as an instructor pilot in five different aircraft and accumulated
enough flying hours to receive his senior pilot rating with his
contemporaries.
The following years back in CONUS brought many
challenges: new aircraft qualifications, a Master of Arts in
diplomatic history from the University of Maryland and completion
of the Air War College course as a distinguished graduate. The
highlight of the Air War College tour was the birth of James
Lewis in October 1965.
Hei returned to the Air Force Academy in 1966 as
Deputy Commandant for Plans and Operations. With the Vietnam
War escalating, Hei volunteered and received orders to Vietnam
in 1968. He served as commander of the advisory team to the Vietnamese
Air Force 33rd Tactical Wing and flew combat missions with the
Vietnamese Air Force. He returned to the States for assignment
with the Military Airlift Command in California, where he frequently
flew back into Vietnam as a command pilot in C-141s and C-5s.
In 1972, he was reassigned to Headquarters, Military Airlift
Command, where he remained until his retirement as a colonel
in 1976.
Civilian life was as rewarding for Hei as his previous
thirty years of active duty had been. He was Assistant to the
Director of Mount Vernon during the two-year Bicentennial observance
and served six years as Vice President, Armed Forces Benefit
Association. His final retirement in 1984 gave Hei and Mimi the
opportunity to devote more time to the Episcopal church, in which
they were licensed Eucharistic Ministers, and to their 44-foot
cruiser, Vandrefalk. They both joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary
and became deeply involved in teaching boating safety and performing
operational patrols on Chesapeake Bay. Hei was elected commander
of the Northern Virginia Power Squadron and was a flotilla commander
in the Auxiliary. He went on to become a division captain in
the Auxiliary and had been elected rear commodore (thereby regaining
his "eagles" in Coast Guard insignia) when he was diagnosed
with bone cancer. Hei died on 30 November 1990. He was survived
by his wife Mimi; a daughter, Karen; two sons, Hal and James;
and a grandson, Grady.
Although a memorial service was held at Fort Meyer,
Virginia, Hei was interred at the Air Force Academy, in accordance
with his wishes, on 4 June 1991, the forty-fifth anniversary
of his graduation from West Point. In a fitting gesture, the
current director of the mascot program at the Air Force Academy
brought a young prairie falcon to the graveside service to join
family and friends in their farewell to a "founding father"
of a great institution that traces its roots and traditions to
the United States Military Academy.
His wife, Mimi, and children, Karen, Hal and James
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