Lieutenant General
William H. Duncan, M.D.
Lieutenant General William H. Duncan retired after more than 35 years of
distinguished military service in 1987. Upon graduation from the United States
Military Academy in 1952, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry,
serving in the 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team and in Korea during the
Korea Conflict, in the 17th Infantry Regiment of the 7th Division.
He was awarded the Expert Infantryman’s Badge, the Commendation Medal and
numerous service medals. Upon resigning from the Regular Army in 1955 he joined
the Pennsylvania National Guard, with the 111th Infantry Regimental Combat
Team, Philadelphia Pennsylvania. He was promoted to rank of Major of Infantry as
the Operations and Training Officer.
In February 1963, he accepted a commission as a Major, Medical Corps in the
Delaware Army National Guard and became Commanding Officer of the 116th
Surgical Hospital (Mobile Army). General Duncan transferred to the Signal Corps
Branch in 1970. He reached the grade of Major General, qualified in the
Signal Corps and served as the Commander of the 261st Signal Command (Theater
Army).
Mobilization missions in which he participated were to the Third United States
Army, the Army Component of Central Command, the Joint Rapid Deployment
Force to Southwest Asia and to WESTCOM, the Army Component to the Pacific
Command.
General Duncan was awarded the U.S. Army’s Distinguished Service Medal, their
highest peacetime award; the Delaware Conspicuous Service Cross (Fifth Award)
and promoted to the State rank of Lieutenant General. He holds the Delaware
Distinguished Service Medal and the Delaware Medal for Military Merit (Eight
Awards).
He has held appointments by the Secretary of the Army to the Advisory Committee
to the Surgeon General of the Army on Reserve Affairs and the Army Reserve Forces
Policy Committee and subsequently held an appointment by the Secretary of
Defense to the Reserve Forces Policy Board. He served three times as the President of
the gubernatorial committee to recommend the individual to serve as Adjutant
General of Delaware. He has served five times as a member of the General Officer
Selection Board for the National Guard.
General Duncan is a Director, Army Historical Foundation, 1998- present. He is also
the Chairman of the National Guard Heritage Painting Committee, Washington
DC, 2001 –present. He is the formerChairman of the Delaware Military Heritage and
Education Foundation, 1999 –2010. He is the author of several articles on military
history.
General Duncan attended Delaware public schools, graduating from P.S. duPont
High School, Wilmington Delaware in 1947. He attended the University of
Delaware before appointment to West Point in 1948. He graduated with a Bachelor
of Science from the U.S. Military Academy in 1952 and graduated with a Doctor of
Medicine from Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia Pennsylvania in
1959. He participated in post-doctoral training in psychiatry and obstetrics in
addition to his rotating internship at the Delaware Hospital, 1959-1960.
His civilian career was equally distinguished; beginning with a Family Practice
established in Wilmington Delaware in July 1960. He was named as part-time
Director of Medical Education for the Delaware Hospital and subsequently Director
of Emergency Services. In 1967 he was appointed Director of Ambulatory Services
for the Wilmington Medical Center. He was named Vice President of Medical Affairs
at Saint Francis Hospital in Wilmington in 1975. He “retired” from St. Francis in
1993. General Duncan was appointed as the Senior Medical Examiner for the Federal
Aviation Administration from 1969-1993. General Duncan currently practices
general medicine and allergy with Calvert Ear, Nose and Throat Associates in
Annapolis, Maryland.
He has held numerous appointments as a medical consultant, lecturer, instructor,
trainer, peer reviewer, and arbitrator in positions of administrative responsibility
spanning five decades. His interests are not limited to military and medical topics.
To name just a few of his innumerable associations, he has been an active
participant in Crittendon Center for unwed mothers; Temple University Medical
School Alumni Association, Board member for the YMCA of Delaware, the
Executive Board for the Del-Mar-Va Council, Boy Scouts of America, and Director of
the Historical Society of Delaware.
General Duncan married the former Doris May Goodley of Brandywine Hundred.
They had three children, Charles, Laurie, and William. She died in 2000. General
Duncan married Beth Rhodes, M.D. of Huntingtown, Maryland in 2005. He has a
stepdaughter Kristina by this second marriage.
As an interesting historical footnote, General Duncan is the son of Delaware career
National Guardsman, Colonel S.B. I. Duncan, for whom the Duncan Readiness
Center is named
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