Mayer, William E.

Dr. William E. "Bud" Mayer Died February 10, 2010 in the arms 
of his beloved wife, Heidi, who was his constant, devoted 
lover and companion for over forty years, and who has created 
a home and garden that he believed was a foretaste of Heaven 
itself. Born in Chicago in 1923, the son of parents who were 
both dentists, he was educated at the University of 
Washington, Northwestern University Medical School, and the 
University of California Medical Center in San Francisco. He 
was trained in neurology, psychiatry, neuropathology, and 
military medicine, was elected to AOA National Medical Honor 
Society, designated a distinguished military physician, and 
decorated by the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Army and the 
Public Health Service, with a Bronze Star for Valor in combat 
in Korea, three separate distinguished service medals, and 
numerous other military commendations, an award from the 
Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, a gold medal for 
leadership from the National Management Association and 
several commendations from various state legislatures. Dr. 
Mayer spent his entire professional life in public service, 
mostly in several military services but also as California 
Director of Mental Health and Director of Health, Director of 
the International Forum on AIDS Research at the National 
Academy of Sciences, and Health Director in several California 
Counties and in Hawaii. He served six years in the Pentagon 
as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), responsible 
for the health care of the nearly ten million active duty and 
retired military personnel and their families worldwide, and was 
Assistant Surgeon General of the U.S. During his service in the 
Pentagon, he initiated the most comprehensive medical 
quality assurance system then in existence, instituted a 
world-wide computerized medical information system in 
military hospitals, vastly increased the readiness and ability of 
military medical personnel to function in combat with great 
benefit to the troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and in dozens of 
countries around the globe. He also oversaw the launching of 
the two largest, most technologically advanced 1000-bed 
hospital ships ever built, and construction of superb new 
hospitals at Fort Lewis and in San Diego (Balboa.) During his 
years in California, he greatly advanced the new Community 
Mental Health System, the licensing of osteopathic physicians 
as M.D.s, and the acceptance of nurse practitioners by the 
medical community. While in charge of three of the National 
Institutes of Health, he advocated the recognition of 
alcoholism as a chronic disease rather than a defect in 
character, and initiated a nationwide campaign among high 
schools in every state to adopt the Odesignated driver' system 
and other measures to reduce fatal alcohol-related auto 
accidents connected with junior and senior proms every 
spring. Following the Korean War, Dr. Mayer served as the only 
physician on the Japan Joint Intelligence Processing Board, the 
senior group convened to study the high death rate, 
incidences of collaboration, and unresisting acquiescence of 
American soldiers held in Chinese POW camps, and in the 
course of detailed interrogations of a thousand of these men 
he became one of the free world's most knowledgeable 
experts on Communist so-called OBrainwashing' techniques 
that by 1950 had successfully imposed the most severe, 
dehumanizing tyranny in history upon a third of the world's 
population. Through this work he became a friend and 
associate of Ronald Reagan in 1963, and from then on until 
the end of Mr. Reagan's presidency, worked with him and for 
him, Casper Weinberger, Colin Powell and the Joint Chiefs in 
the unrelenting battle against the "Evil Empire" that dominated 
Russia, China, and the countless other countries in which the 
Communists had established dictatorships. In this work, Dr. 
Mayer lectured to over a million persons in the US and abroad, 
and published a book entitled "Brainwashing, Drunks and 
Madness," a physician's memoir. It has been re-published under 
the title: Beyond the Call, Vol I and II. He leaves, in addition 
to his Heidi, four children and nine grandchildren and 
numerous "adopted" daughters and sons and their offspring. 
His beloved and devoted wife, Heidi, whose skills as a 
registered nurse and senior administrator in government 
equipped her with extraordinary management talents which 
along with her determination, perseverance and inexhaustible 
energy all combined to make Dr. Mayer's final 20 years of life 
a splendid, fulfilling period of physical comfort and joy 
despite numerous serious ailments. Dr. Mayer has been a 
member of St. Charles Borromeo Church and especially wants 
to thank Father Mike. "This wise, gentle, understanding priest is 
responsible for our renewal of life in faith". He also wants to 
pay tribute to the expert and devoted care given by a 
multitude of talented and compassionate staff at Madigan Army 
Medical Center. Lastly, he thanks the incredible staff at 
Franciscan Hospice. They are the best in providing supportive 
care and love, especially the nurses Tita and Martha, Social 
Worker Susan and Chaplain Natasha. If, by virtue of their 
loving acts, there are people amongst us who are indeed 
among the Saints, all these people fully qualify. All of it due 
to the grace of a beneficent Lord. Heidi and friends will be 
celebrating Bud's extraordinary life daily in our appreciation 
and love for each other, our beloved pets, and in the beauty of 
each passing season that surrounds us.

Published in News Tribune (Tacoma) on February 14, 2010