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BORN 21 JANUARY 1932 in Mount Pleasant in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, to Lewis Aloysius Mologne and Kathryn Fischer Mologne, Lew was named Lewis Aspey Mologne after his father and his dad’s close friend, Dr. Aspey. Shortly after Lew was born, Dr. Aspey said, “Some day I hope he, too, will become a doctor of medicine.”
By the end of eighth grade, Lew was valedictorian, had won First Honors, and was class president. At Connellsville High School, Lew lettered three years in three sports, was captain of the football team, and won academic medals in mathematics, science, citizenship, and student government. Lew was named to the National Honor Society and elected president of the senior class.
Jimmy Wolfe, the sports editor of the Connellsville Daily Courier, wrote of “Old Blood and Guts Mologne” and praised Lew’s ferocious play on both offense and defense. According to Wolfe, Lew “intercepted passes, recovered fumbles, and returned punts with reckless abandon.”
Another admirer of Lew’s at Connellsville High was the head football coach, Art Ruff, who excited college recruiters with his description of Lew’s leadership on the playing field. When Ruff compared Lew to Johnny Lujack and Dick Pitzer, Lew’s application received the immediate attention of Johnny Green USMA ’46 and Coach Earl Blaik.
In the early days of Beast Barracks, Lew caught the attention of the Beast Detail. They liked giving his last name a hard ‘g’ and screamed it out, “Ma-LOG-nee.” He just kept silent and wouldn’t answer. When pressed, Lew shouted back, “MY NAME IS MOLOGNE, SIR . . . WITH A SILENT ‘G,’ SIR!”
When classes started in the fall, Lew went to the first section in every subject and made Dean’s List for four years. In the classroom, Lew was a rapid worker, a disciplined thinker. He was very well organized. We elected Lew our class Honor Representative and rated him tops in military aptitude. During plebe year, Lew joined the Catholic Acolytes, the Debate Council, and the Russian Club, earned numerals in football and lacrosse, and won the brigade championship in intramural boxing. An old football injury shortened his athletic career, but nothing kept him from graduating in the top 2% of the class. Night after night, Lew also tutored classmates during study hour and in the sinks after taps. Lew Mologne had a special gift of being able to explain by using visual concepts so that others could more easily grasp and understand. Years later, when he was the Chief of Surgery at Fitzsimmons and Walter Reed, this ability became his greatest contribution to medicine.
Graduating 8 June 1954, Lew enrolled in two concentrated graduate biology courses at the University of Pittsburgh. He proudly had chosen the Corps of Engineers, but Lew’s heart had long been set on becoming a doctor. He used his graduation leave to see if he could make the grade. Lew earned two solid “A’s” and was invited to come back to medical school. He also met Rose Galiardi, a dietitian at the university medical center.
Breezing through the engineer course at Belvoir and airborne training at Benning, Lew reported to the 13th Engineer Battalion in Korea. He was a human dynamo as the HQ & Service Company motor officer and became company commander. The 7th Infantry Division awarded him the Army Commendation Medal. Transferred to Camp Zama, Japan, Lew became aide-de-camp to Eighth Army Engineer and later G-4 Brigadier General William A. Carter (USMA ’30). General Carter said, “Lew Mologne was the best aide-de-camp I ever had and the very best I ever saw.” Returning stateside early in 1957, Lew resigned his commission and headed to medical school.
At the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Medicine, Lew Mologne studied day and night, did more than ever was asked, was elected class president, named a University Scholar and stood first in his class. Lew tied the knot with Rose Marie Galiardi on 18 June 1960 in Connellsville, Pennsylvania. An old engineer buddy, Dick Renfro (USMA ’54), was best man.
In his final year of medical school, Lew applied for a commission in the Medical Corps. The Surgeon General’s office reacted rapidly to honor this request from Pittsburgh’s top-ranking medical student.
Lew’s first assignment was at Walter Reed in the Rotating Intern Program. But there was little time to celebrate, for the program started in a few days and their first child, Lewis Alan, was only weeks away.
Lew was showered with awards by the School of Medicine: the Physiology Award, Surgery Award, Roche Award, and the Barton Prize. He was proudest of the Memorial Prize presented to the graduate best qualified to advance the ideals of medicine. Dr. Aspey would have been proud.
Soon his year as an intern was over, Rose was expecting again, and Lew was on orders to his alma mater as a General Medical Officer and physician for the Army football team. Rose gave birth to Timothy Scott Mologne, their second son. Next, Lew was selected to begin his four-year residency at Walter Reed the following summer. During this training program, Rose gave birth to Michael John, their third son, and Mary Kathryn, their first daughter.
Concluding residency in general surgery, Lew’s formal medical training was completed. Assigned to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in the summer of 1967, Lew was named Chief, Human Studies Section, Division of Surgery. Amy Louise was born in March 1968.
In mid-1968, Lew became Assistant Chief, General Surgery, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. A few months later, he was certified by the American Board of Surgery. During his assignment, Lew was on the surgical team that worked desperately to save President Eisenhower. Before his death, Ike called Lew to his bedside to thank him and tell him how proud he was to have a fellow West Pointer as one of his doctors.
In the summer of 1970, Lew was assigned Chief of Professional Service and then Chief of Surgery at the 130th General Hospital in Germany. A hot topic was whether to remove the battalion surgeon from the TO&E of the infantry battalion. I was stationed in Wuerzburg at the time, and Lew asked me to come down and give my views to a conference of doctors. I gave my talk and then answered questions. Lew reminded all the doctors present of the mission of the medical corps. “The infantry commander sees things from the common soldier’s perspective,” he said, “and not from the standpoint of the most efficient utilization of doctors. Let us not forget that.” This was one of the hallmarks of Lew Mologne. He was the champion of the common soldier.
In the summer of 1973, he was named Chief, General Surgery Service, at Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center. Lew worked hard and became a meticulous and demanding teacher of other surgeons. Doctors who studied under Lew reflected, “The standards he demanded were unbelievable, and none of us thought we could measure up, but he showed us we could . . . We found ourselves doing the extraordinary every day as a matter of routine.”
Lew later became Chief of Surgery at Fitzsimmons in 1977 and held the post until 1980, when he left for a one-year stint with the U.S. Forces Korea and the Eighth Army. Lew was named commander, U.S. Army Medical Command, Korea; Eighth Army Surgeon; and Commander U.S. Army Community Hospital and 121st Evacuation Hospital. In the summer of 1981, Lew was back at Fitzsimmons as Deputy Commander and Deputy for Medical Activities and Medical Education.
While performing surgery on wounded soldiers returning from Vietnam, Lew became seriously infected with hepatitis. It could have killed him, but he fought it and won. Unfortunately, he was left damaged and susceptible to more pervasive dangers. Cancer cells eventually seized upon his damaged liver.
In 1982, Lew was selected for his first star and was assigned to the Office of the Surgeon General. He was named Chief, Medical Corps Affairs and Director of Professional Services. It was destined to be short-lived, for there were serious problems at Walter Reed.
By June 1983, the Surgeon General plucked Lew Mologne from his own staff and sent him to Walter Reed to straighten out the situation. Lew became Commanding General of Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The famous institution had fallen on hard times. Narcotics in the streets of nearby Silver Springs had found their way onto the post; so had the accompanying theft and crime. Lew went into his new command like a whirlwind. When he found things that weren’t right, he brought them right out into the open. He was everywhere. If he wasn’t sure of the facts in the reports he was receiving, he went out to see for himself. Good soldiers respond to good commanders, and Lew was more than just good. The place shaped up. And, slowly, the reputation of WRAMC was restored.
Unexpectedly, in early 1988, Lew became seriously ill. The Hepatitis B had left his liver vulnerable to cancer, and it had to be removed. Lew received a transplant and began the slow process of healing. He returned to Walter Reed in late spring to complete his therapy and reassume command, but his health didn’t improve. He was terminally ill.
Friends, classmates, and former patients wanted to come and see him, but he was in no condition to see anyone but family. Two surprise visitors were allowed: President Reagan and Vice-President Bush. Both gentlemen gave Lew their blessings and their thanks.
Lew’s condition began slipping rapidly. A formal change of command ceremony was held on 1 August 1988. Lew was to be retired shortly after the ceremony, but it became a race against time. Lew fought the coming darkness and called on all his inner strengths for this last roll call with the troops he loved. The Army Chief of Staff, General Carl Vuono, personally attended and general orders were read announcing the award of the Army Distinguished Service Medal. The citation outlined the remarkable improvements Lew had made at Walter Reed in five years.
Three weeks later, Lewis Aspey Mologne, M.D., Major General, Medical Corps, U.S. Army, died quietly, without fanfare, the way he lived his life: magnificently simple, yet simply magnificent. He was buried at Arlington following services at the Catholic Chapel at Fort Myer, Virginia. Memorial services were held in chapels across the country and overseas.
During Lew’s 34 years of active military service, he earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal, Military Parachutist Badge, the “A” designator in Surgery for professional excellence, and the Founders Medal of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.
Lew is survived by his mother and two sisters, his five children — Lewis Alan, Timothy Scott, Michael John, Mary Kathryn, Amy Louise — and his beloved wife Rose.
West Point has named the Mologne Cadet Health Center in Lew’s honor. It is in the old hospital building near Grant Hall. A commemorative plaque and some of Lew’s memorabilia are on display.
The George Washington Chapter of the Association of the United States Army has established a trophy in Lew’s honor. It is awarded annually to a serviceman or woman at Walter Reed who best exemplifies the ideals of Lewis Aspey Mologne.
Lew is buried side by side with Walter Reed, where the great men of Army medicine have been laid to rest. His gravestone is prominent among these greats, and well it should be.
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