Orlando Henderson Petty

Lieutenant Orlando Henderson Petty (1874–1932) was a physician, medical educator and U.S. Naval Reserve surgeon who served with the 5th Regiment, U.S. Marines, in France during the First World War. He graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1904 and joined its teaching staff two years later. In December 1916 he was appointed an assistant surgeon in the Naval Reserve Medical Corps. When the United States entered the war, Petty deployed with the Marines as a medical officer and treated casualties during the Battle of Belleau Wood.

On 11 June 1918, Petty was operating a dressing station in Lucy-le-Bocage, close to the front. German high-explosive and gas shells struck the area. One blast knocked him down and tore his gas mask; another destroyed his dressing station. Petty discarded the damaged mask and continued to treat and evacuate wounded Marines under fire. When Captain Lloyd Williams was wounded, Petty helped carry him through the shelling to safety. His work continued even as the medical post was being demolished around him. For this action, he received the Medal of Honor, becoming the first U.S. Navy medical reservist to earn the award.

Petty also received the Distinguished Service Cross, a Silver Star citation, the French Croix de Guerre with palm and the Italian Croce di Guerra for his wartime service. After returning to Philadelphia, he resumed medical teaching and research. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Medicine, directed the city’s public-health work and headed its Bureau of Communicable Diseases. He wrote medical books and articles and became a leading authority on diabetes. He also served as president of the Medical Club of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia County Medical Society. His career joined frontline care under bombardment with decades of medical education and public-health leadership.

The Medal of Honor citation recounts that while Petty treated and evacuated wounded Marines under heavy high-explosive and gas fire, a shell knocked him down and tore his mask. He discarded it and continued his work. After the dressing station was destroyed, he helped carry the wounded Captain Williams through the shellfire to safety. The award recognized his courage and devotion to the wounded at Belleau Wood on 11 June 1918.

Sources: Marine Corps University History Division, “Lieutenant Orlando Henderson Petty”; Naval History and Heritage Command, “Navy Medical Corps Medal of Honor Recipients in World War I”; U.S. Navy Medal of Honor citation for Lieutenant Orlando Henderson Petty; Hall of Valor, “Orlando Henderson Petty.”