Orlando Henderson Petty was born on 20 February 1874 in Cadiz, OH. At the time of action he was a lieutenant in the Medical Corps, USNR. His citation reads, “For extraordinary heroism while serving with the Fifth Regiment, United States Marines, in France during the attack in the Boise de Belleau, 11 June 1918. While under heavy fire of high explosive and gas shells in the town of Lucy, where his dressing station was located, Lieutenant Petty attended to and evacuated the wounded under most trying conditions. Having been knocked to the ground by an exploding gas shell which tore his mask, Lieutenant Petty discarded the mask and courageously continued his work. His dressing station being hit and demolished, he personally helped carry Captain Williams, wounded, through the shellfire to a place of safety.”After leaving naval service, Dr. Petty, a graduate of Thomas Jefferson Medical School, returned to Philadelphia and became a Professor of Metabolic Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1924, he wrote the seminal text Diabetes, Its Treatment by Insulin and Diet (1924).
Dr. Orlando Petty died in Philadelphia on 2 June 1932 and is buried in St. Timothy’s Churchyard, Roxborough, PA.
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