Leonard M. Linde, 77; Cardiologist Aided Vietnamese Children

Dr. Leonard M. Linde, 77, who worked with the nationwide Committee of Responsibility to bring children injured in the Vietnam War to the UCLA Medical Center’s pediatric department for treatment, died Sunday in Los Angeles of unspecified causes.

Linde and the organization began the program in 1967 as the war escalated. Honorary chairmen were Dr. Albert Sabin and Dr. Benjamin Spock. Vietnamese actress France Nuyen narrated a fundraising documentary. The children, Linde told supporters, generally needed plastic and reconstructive surgery unavailable in South Vietnam.

Linde also worked with the Los Angeles Heart Institute at St. Vincent Medical Center, serving as chief of pediatric cardiology for the institute and the hospital. The institute provided cardiac surgery for children born with heart defects in the United States, Mexico and elsewhere.

Born in New York and educated at UC Berkeley, Linde completed his residency at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. From 1959 to 1976, he taught at UCLA and headed the pediatric cardiology department at the UCLA Medical Center. He later taught at the USC School of Medicine.