William F. Heavey

Brigadier General William Francis Heavey (29 January 1896 – 11 March 1974) was a United States Army officer who commanded the 2nd Engineer Special Brigade in the South West Pacific Area during World War II. A West Point graduate, he entered the army engineers in 1917 and fought in World War I. He continued in the army during the 1920s and 1930s and was quickly promoted to brigadier general in 1942. After the war he became a consulting engineer and managed the Port of Houston.

Biography William Francis Heavey was born at Fort McPherson, Georgia, on 29 January 1896, the eldest of three sons son of a United States Army officer, John W. Heavey, and his wife Julia ( Baggett). Heavey grew up on various Army posts, and graduated from Cheyenne High School in 1912. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point on 14 June 1913. His father, who became a brigadier general, was a West Point graduate, of the class of 1891, and his younger brothers Thomas J. Heavey and Wade H. Heavey would become graduates too, eventually rising to the rank of colonel.

Due to the American entry into World War I, Heavey's class graduated early on 20 April 1917. He was ranked third in his class, and although he wanted to follow his father into the infantry, the top graduates in his class were commissioned into the United States Army Corps of Engineers as second lieutenants.

Dates of rank