THE ARMY MEDICAL BULLETIN, NUMBER 65 (JANUARY 1943)
Paul Stacy Halloran
[30 March 1874-26 April 1931]
On October 14 of this year (1942) the War Department announced the creation of the Halloran General Hospital at Willowbrook, Staten Island, New York. It thus honors an officer of the Medical Corps who served the Army well and faithfully for thirty years and whose rare personal qualities won the affectionate regard of all with whom he was associated.
Paul Stacy Halloran was born on March 30, 1874, at Fort Wright, in Round Valley, California. His father, James Halloran, was a native of Ireland, who, after serving as a lieutenant in a Washington regiment in the Civil War, was appointed an officer in the 12th U. S. Infantry, in which regiment he long served in the grade of captain. Paul’s mother was Henrietta Fouts, who died within a few months of his birth. The son obtained his early schooling in the posts where his father was stationed and in the adjacent towns. Later he attended the Winona Military Academy at Winona, Minnesota, and then entered the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained his medical degree in 1899. After an internship in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Philadelphia, he was appointed to the Medical Corps of the Army on June 29, 1901. In November of that year he was ordered to the Army Medical School in Washington, where he graduated in April 1902 and from whence he was ordered to duty in the Philippine Islands, sailing from San Francisco in the following month. Partly on field duty in Southern Luzon and partly on hospital duty in Manila he passed three years of this foreign service, returning to the United States in 1905. In two years he was back in the Philippines for a second tour of three years, this time mainly on hospital duty in and around Manila.
In the Army Medical School and during these two tours of tropical duty in the Philippines, the services of the writer of this sketch and of his fellow junior medical officer ran parallel and thus their association was close during the first decade of their service.
Upon his return from foreign duty in 1910, Halloran, now a captain, was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he served until troubled times along the Mexican border brought his transfer to hospital duty at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following our declaration of a state of war in 1917, Halloran lately promoted from major to lieutenant colonel, was assigned to the post of surgeon of the 90th Division, which was being organized at Camp Travis, near San Antonio, Texas. In June 1918 he accompanied that Division to France. In August the Division took over a sector of the front line in Lorraine and later participated in both the St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne operations. While on this duty he was given the temporary grade of colonel.
That he did well his part in the momentous events of the Division’s war participation is evidenced by the citation that accompanied the Distinguished Service Medal that was given him for this service:
“He served with great credit as division surgeon of the 90th Division from the date of its organization throughout its service in the field, displaying sound judgment, marked professional skill, and untiring energy. By enforcing effective sanitary measures he maintained the combat strength of the division and by his able direction of the medical service he was largely responsible for the proper care of the sick and wounded.”
With the 90th Division Colonel Halloran went into Germany in the Army of Occupation. He was later transferred to the post of surgeon, First Army Corps, at Tonnerre in France. When the Corps was disbanded he was assigned to duty as surgeon of the Marseilles base and still later to the same duty in Brest.
He returned to the United States in October 1919 and was sent back to Camp Travis, Texas, as surgeon of the 2d Division. In September 1921 he was detailed to duty with the Veterans’ Bureau in Washington, as chief inspector of hospitals. In January 1923 he was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia, where he supervised the construction and organized the services of the new hospital. In 1927 he was sent again to the Philippines, where for two years he was commanding officer of Sternberg General Hospital in Manila. Upon his return in September 1929 he was assigned to the command of the Fitzsimons General Hospital at Denver. Here in the midst of the rebuilding and refitting of this giant hospital and in the height of his usefulness, he passed away suddenly among a party of friends in his home, on April 26, 1931.
Thus briefly is summarized a career marked by responsible duties faithfully performed without pretense of exceptional gifts or of being unduly burdened. If the weight of his responsibilities were heavy upon him he gave no evidence of it. His talents found their greatest outlet in the field of hospital administration. He had a wealth of experience in hospital construction and equipment and in every day hospital management. These duties were marked by sound judgment and unfailing good nature, a Combination that goes far to make success in any career. But his qualities were far from negative. He was witty in conversation, he loved companionship and had a gift for lasting friendships. We who knew him well subscribe to the tribute of one of his subordinates at Fitzsimons General Hospital at the time of his death: “We will always remember (him) as a wonderful friend, a superb and fine officer and a gentleman.”
Personally, he was of medium height with a slight trim figure. With a smart military bearing and fine clear-cut features, he was a fine figure of a soldier.
Colonel Halloran lived out his span of life as a bachelor, though none was more fitted for a family life. His father married a second time. To the only mother he ever knew he was a devoted son and to his sister Ann and brother George, after their father’s death, a second parent. His sister managed his household for a good part of his Army career. George Halloran, also making the Army his career, is now a brigadier general in a Texas camp.
Funeral services for Colonel Halloran were held in the Denver Cathedral, after which the remains were brought to Arlington National Cemetery for interment.
JAMES M. PHALEN,
Colonel, U. S. Army, Retired.
