Philip S. Heisler; Editor, War Correspondent

Philip S. Heisler, 73, former managing editor of The (Baltimore) Evening Sun, who as a war correspondent once hypnotized battle-weary Navy pilots to help them sleep. Heisler was an amateur hypnotist, a horse breeder and a newsman who favored a straightforward reporting style. He was managing editor of the Sun for 30 years until his retirement in 1979. He scored a major scoop toward the end of World War II when he reported that the Marines had gained the upper hand at Iwo Jima. Heisler observed the famous flag-raising atop Mt. Suribachi from offshore, relaying his story to the United States before his rival on the island could return to the ship. An Associated Press dispatch from the Pacific in World War II described how Heisler had hypnotized a group of pilots aboard an aircraft carrier so they could get a good night’s sleep for the first time in weeks. Thursday of cancer in Baltimore.