In 1920 his family emigrated to the United States, sponsored by an uncle who was a major in the Army Medical Corps, and his mother remarried an infantry officer.

He saw action in Sicily, Italy, southern France and Germany and his regiment captured Adolf Hitler’s Berghof in Berchtesgaden on 4 May 1945.

[1]: 108–9 From 1961 to 1962, Heintges served as Director of Organization and Training, Office of the Deputy of Chief of Staff for Military Operations in Washington D.C.

He served as commander of the 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized) in Fort Carson, Colorado from 29 January 1963 to 15 July 1964.

He subsequently served as Deputy Commander in Chief United States Army Europe, in Heidelberg, West Germany, Deputy Commander of the Eighth Army in Korea, and U.S. Representative to the Central Treaty Organization in Ankara, Turkey.