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Subscribe to RSSIn a cost-cutting move, Walter Reed Army Medical Center will close its doors for good. The hospital treated many of the country's wounded soldiers, including 18,000 Americans wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
By Jim Miklaszewski, NBC News chief Pentagon correspondent
Walter Reed Army Medical Center, a name synonymous with military medicine, took one step closer Wednesday to shutting its doors for good. In a bittersweet "casing of the colors" ceremony, Army officers packed up their unit flags, never to be flown again over Walter Reed.
For more than 100 years, from World War I to Iraq and Afghanistan, Walter Reed provided medical care for hundreds of thousands of US military wounded.
"All the warriors have passed through here," Walter Reed's commander, Col. Norvell Coots, told NBC News. "This has been a healing place for all of them."
AP
Maj. Walter Reed, circa 1875. for whom the medical center was named.
Dedicated in 1909, the Army hospital was named for Maj. Walter Reed, who discovered that mosquitoes were the source of yellow fever, which plagued American military forces in Cuba following the Spanish-American war. Reed himself died of an infection from appendicitis seven years before the hospital was built.
With an original capacity of only 80 beds, Walter Reed was expanded to a sprawling 113 acres, now providing care for 700,000 patients per year.
Walter Reed is also an invaluable piece of American history. World War I Gen. John "Blackjack" Pershing lived in a three-room suite in the main hospital building for seven years before he died in 1948. Historian Dr. John Pierce said that although Pershing retired, he was often sought out for military advice. "Two-star Gen. George S. Patton came here to this room, got down on his knees, and General Pershing blessed him before he went off to World War II," according to Pierce.
President Dwight Eisenhower had his own suite in Ward 8, a high-security section of the main hospital. Eisenhower was confined to the hospital for 11 months before he died in 1969.
See a slideshow of images from Walter Reed's long history
During the Civil War, the ground on which the hospital was later built was actually an encampment for the Confederate Army on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Col. Coots recounts that in 1864, a rebel sharpshooter climbed to the top of a tulip tree and fired off a round at President Lincoln standing in a parapet at a Union Army base nearby. The shot missed, but a young lieutenant pulled Lincoln down and, as history tells it, shouted, "Get down, you damned fool. The country can't afford to lose a president."
In the past 10 years, 18,000 service members wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan flooded Walter Reed. Advances in battlefield medicine had dramatically improved survivability rates. The former chief of Walter Reed's critical care nursing, Col. Rosemary Edinger, told NBC News, "During Vietnam, the soldiers we get back today would not have survived the battlefield." But she also acknowledged, "The nature of the wounds, the amputees, is truly staggering at times."
The stress on Walter Reed's medical services also was staggering. In 2007 a scandal broke over substandard housing conditions for Walter Reed outpatients.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired Army Secretary Francis Harvey over the scandal. Outpatient care was ultimately improved Army-wide.
Jim Watson / AFP/Getty Images
Marine Cpl. Chris Santiago, center, waits in the fitting clinic at Walter Reed. He was injured in Iraq.
Five years ago, a Pentagon commission determined that the aging Walter Reed should be closed to cut costs. The remaining 150 of the most seriously wounded patients will be transferred in August to a new expanded facility at the Bethesda Naval Hospital to be named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The 113-acre Walter Reed campus, on the western outskirts of the nation's capital is prime real estate. The city will claim most of it for commercial development and housing. The State Department will take over the rest to provide offices and housing for visiting diplomats.
Pierce fears that in the handover, much of Walter Reed's history will be lost. "It's a big loss, it really is. I guess I just have to accept it – grudgingly."
But Col. Coots is confident of the medical center's legacy.
"Once you've been at Walter Reed, you can't get Walter Reed out of you," he said. "It's a part of your spirit forever."
Col. Norvell Coots shows NBC's Jim Miklaszewski a Civil War battlefield recently found on the grounds of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and discusses the history of the facility as the hospital shuts its doors.
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I would very much like to hear how those seriously wounded, that were treated there feel about this ? I had no experience and imagine that there are good and bad stories........ JMJ
Um, what's replacing it?
The need for a hospital that specializes in the treatment of our armed forces is clear. Walter Reed leads the way in breaking new ground in the treatment of battlefield injuries. On the historic front it is a shame, but if another location can do the job much more cost efficiently, then I accept it as a tough decision. If there is no replacement other than the nearest ER, then this is criminal.
"The remaining 150 of the most seriously wounded patients will be transferred in August to a new expanded facility at the Bethesda Naval Hospital to be named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. "
Oops, nevermind.
Kicking,
Agreed, how is it that after a DECADE of wars in which we sent soldiers on 4, 6 8 even 10 deployments we are now going to slash and burn Vet care. Shameful!
What will be replacing Walter Reed in October 2011 is a state-of-the-art military hospital at Fort Belvoir. For the first time in history, this military hospital will combine all branches of the military, with both staff and patients from the Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Air Force and Marines. This will combine research efforts and save resources. It will be the one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the U.S., paid for by tax dollars and certainly worth mentioning by the NBC Nightly News team in their next segment.
Well, we wouldn't want to let prime real estate go to waste on anything like veterans, would we? We shouldn't just clean the place up and modernize it when it's so much cheaper to shut the place down, sell the land to some politically connected friends and move the wounded some place cheaper. Am I the only one who smells a rat?
I am outraged as a daughter of a veteran of World War II (8 major campaigns) and the Korean Conflict. Not only was my dad treated and released (and went right back to Europe to fight some more) on several occasions at Walter Reed, but when I was born in 1959, and would not have made it, they flew a bull-bird Colonel in from Walter Reed--the best of the best--who saved both my mother's and my life. 15 years later I, as a VERY young Army bride, was giving birth to my first daughter and suffered the same complications. They flew someone in from Walter Reed to try and save me and my daughter---it was the same doctor, and he recognized my father as the same anxious man praying for another baby years before. I don't care what new and fancy state-of-the-art hospital they have at Ft. Belvoir, we've always been able to keep both busy, as well as Walson Army Hospital in Ft. Dix, New Jersey---where I was born and my daughter was born after me. I really think the US would be better off if we cut some politician's jobs and kept these places in operation. When has the US EVER needed less hospitals?? And how dare they close down a facility that should instead be made into a living national monument to the men and women who went were others feared to go, and worked tirelessly for a soldier's pay to save other soldiers' lives. SHAME ON YOU WASHINGTON DC!! SHAME!!!!
Pinkeraser, thanks for the post. I was doubtful that we would turn our backs on the vets, and I'm glad we aren't.
This is shameful. Republicans are disassembling the United States at every opportunity.
Republicans????? WTF???? This was decided years ago under BRAC. I know, I was caught up in it. I think that if you would look it up democrats had both the house and senate. They are the ones that made these decisions. I know you have your talking points, but how about some facts.
Oh, just a by the way... The military people were asked how to save some money. What bases/locations they could do without. Then Congress wrote it down in stone. That's how it was done. Why try to blame any one party? Can you say vitriol? AS#WipE.
I apologize for the language, but you ignorant fools really piss me off. How about looking at some facts, learn the truth, and then make up your own mind. Don't just spout off this us v them crap.
Where's Fiesty when you need common sense?
"RightBehind" ... the curve.
Some people will use any platform to act the partisan hack.
"Republicrat, Democran: One Party System!" -- Sage Francis
Rudeolph:
I understand your passion about BRAC. I was at the conference where a lot of these decisions were made. Both sides hand their hands in it.....trust me.
What gets me about this Hospital is this is the same hospital that only a few years ago was the center of a controversy concerning the poor care that service members were given:
Cancelled appointments
poor living conditions
forgotten service members
two enlisted being scapegoated while a formerly relieved commander from Walter Reed was being reinstated before that got stopped. Yeah I remember Walter Reed.
Not to be forgotten, the hospital that sent a psychotic Army psychiatrist to us here at Ft Hood! At least now they won't be able to do it to anyone else.
I hope the history of the facility and the grounds is not lost to something much less meaningful. Good and bad, it has been a major piece of military history. The part that I find disturbing is that "the city will claim most of it . . ." If one wants to talk about inefficiency and the waste of money, let DC government get involved. While I think DC is one of the most beautiful cities in the country, the DC government system is one of the most screwed up in the country. I've been doing business there for several years and can't wait to get out; what a mess of too many laws and staffers with no one answering the phone.
I really hate what happened to Walter Read. But, just another example of the selling off of America by Congress.
Impeach and Convict, do not reelect.
Forgive me for misspelling Walter Reed.
This is typical of the treatment that the elderly, the disfranchised youth and those who serve this country get. what other industrialized country neglects their citizens in such a manner? No other country. Add the incarceration of the most people to the list and it paints an ugly but accurate picture of today in America. The banks, other corporations and the rich are the only ones that seem to get the breaks that the forefathers wanted all Americans to get. Sending our people to war and closing hospitals that treat them after they sacrificed so much is unconscienable.
Hey ABB, or is it ADD? Read the article again. They aren't kicking these wounded Vets to the curb, they're moving them down the street. I kinda like the idea of a Walter Reed hospital, I've known it all my life, and the man was a local, Glouchester, VA. But they're moving on to bigger and better (we hope) places. It's not a "Katy bar the door before more of those cripples get here" situation. Think of it as your favorite porno shop moving from 2500 sq ft at 5th and Main to 5000 sq ft at Main and Union. Hope that helps.
Seriously, I think a lot of people didn't even bother reading the @!$%#ing article before posting.
From what I know of Walter Reed, it was an amazing place for emergency medical procedures, but it was outdated and prone to all the headaches that old buildings (and grounds) are subject to-- dilapidated structures, pest infestation, continuous maintenance... as my brother put it (himself a vet and currently an officer in the Air National Guard) Walter Reed was a great place to have your feet eaten off by rats. This was obviously an exaggeration, but the sentiment that brought it about is indicative of the deteriorating condition of this historical hospital. It's served its purpose. I'm disappointed that they're leveling the place instead of turning into a kind of memorial, but c'est la vie. The troops undergoing care there are moving to a more updated hospital that's in better condition and it cuts costs. A win-win.
I know I complain about facts, but I think it's circa 1874 maybe.
I don't agree at all. I much prefer my opinions to be immediate and uninformed.
Walter Reed Hospital is part of the American History and should be preserved. What's next? remove the faces on Mount Rushmore to save in cleaning and maintenance cost.
I agree it should be preserved and re-purposed, but it is extremely costly to try to continually retro-fit and maintain a 19th century building to accomodate 21st century science and medicine. And bottom line, I want our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines to get the very best care possible in the most state of the art facilities in the world. We owe them nothing less.
Having said that, I truly hope that the building will not be demolished or allowed to fall into disrepair, but is used for another purpose: Museum (maybe the Smithsonian,) veterans home for the frail and elderly, for homeless vets who need counseling, job training and assistance getting back on their feet, office space instead of building a newer building for some agency, something.
That place is a butcher shop and most of the doctors and nurses that work there should be in prison. There is a reason that they can't get hired in the private sector. Most of them can't get a license to practice in the private sector.
I have a question? Did any of you that posted a comment other than kickingant, read the whole story! Just in case you missed this part here it is again.
"Five years ago, a Pentagon commission determined that the aging Walter Reed should be closed to cut costs. The remaining 150 of the most seriously wounded patients will be transferred in August to a new expanded facility at the Bethesda Naval Hospital to be named the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center."
That means there will still be a Walter Reed Medical Center just a little bit of name change and it was moved to a new location that is bigger and can serve the military better. They are not getting rid of the Historical main building the government is keeping that, I bet it will be a museum, but the other outdated buildings and such yes giving them back to DC.
Question? Answer! Look for posts under Rudeolph. Nuff said.
I was employed by NARMC at Walter Reed when the attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred. I was on vacation that week, planning to visit New York City via Amtrak, but there was something wrong with my direct deposit. Thus, I was home that day, and I remember awakening to the sound of sirens going past my apartment on the corner of Pershing Drive and Arlington Blvd. Only a week or two earlier, a electrical device had failed, shutting down the entire hospital. It was a blessing that it didn't happen later, in the midst of the crisis. Afterwards, I visited each U.S. Army base in the NARMC to install some personnel management software. Working there was a great privilege. The soldiers who worked there were some of the best people I've ever known.
Folks, the gov't is spending $2 BILLION to replace the facility at Bethesda and Ft. Belvoir. Care is being enhanced!!!
I am so stressed with this whole thing, I wonder if there is a way to kick the Republicans out of office.
Beth honey, don't let it get to you. Go back and look at post 3.1, 3.2, and even 3.3. Maybe that will lighten your day. And as an aside, just push the mouse wheel away from you, that scrolls up. Cheers.
These must be another stupid move O and cronies have up there sleaves . Instead of cutting social securtiy and orther departments start with there salaries. Also go after people that owe the USA and Chryslyer for the money they owe instead of the taxpayers..
This has nothing to do with Obama. This was decided years ago, and the hospital is being moved to upgraded modern facilities, rather than the outdated ones there now. how exactly is this so bad, except for the loss of history?
Spacegal: HISTORY LOST IS HISTORY LOST. And maybe for those younger than I history has no place in this modern society we are so proud of today....but no finer and braver men and women walk the earth in uniform today than those who worked and went through the doors as patients at Walter Reed. The hospital where I was born is gone (Walson Army Hospital, Fort Dix, New Jersey) and the doctor who gave me life as well as my daughter's life later on (Colonel Bogardus, US Army, Walter Reed Hospital) is gone, and now so is the hospital he saved lives in. For any one of us who were touched by the building, the staff, or both, yes, this IS so bad.
This is a sad day for me every thing I learned in health care I learned at WRAMC(walter reed army med center). The people I worked with at this hospital were the the best in world. The Fine work will live on in the hearts and minds of all the friends and famliy of Walter Reed Army Medical Center It is like lossing a old friend
I agree. I trained at WRAMC, met my nurse wife Jane there at the "O Club", even got married at the WRAMC chapel in 1980 after returning from the DMZ in Korea. Teamwork and expert care was the finest I have ever seen, truely an example to the nation. Mission oriented for the Soldier, America's greatest resource, we were blessed to be part of this awesome process and place. God bless Walter Reed Army Medical Center and those who worked, lived and died there, it was a friend to so many and will be missed. -Vincent Eusterman, COL, MC RET
thank you, Colonel sir, for your fine comment. Thank you for understanding....and if the soldiers who go through there now can do no better than complain about the care, maybe they are not the same quality of men and women that were going there sixty years ago when my father's brothers in arms were.
THE GOP & THE TEA PARTY are all anti- American !! I remember several years ago when the leader of Russia said at one of the United Nations meetings ( WE SHALL TAKE YOU OVER FROM WITH IN ) He was speaking to Rep. Stevenson from the U.S.A. Seems like this is what the PISSEY ASSED TEA PARTY IS TRYING TO DO. ( Don't let them--VOTE THEM ALL OUT OF OFFICE NEXT ELECTION DAY. )
Nellie, I don't even know where to start. If the Russians did say that to Rep. Stevenson (R-Alaska), wouldn't it make sense to warn your enemies, not tell your friends? Just a thought. Some people never made it past second grade at McGuiver school, I guess. So, following that line of LOGIC (gotta have some caps apparently), how did they hide the Gorbachev head map on Obama? As far as the election thing, prime example of why we can't us picture ID's.
I wondered if that was the same med. facility that was filthy full of mold in the restrooms and shower areas? Seems like mistreatment/abusive behavior perpetrated onto our vets. especially considering they were willing to die for our country. Anybody fighting these moslem religious freakazoids seeking to overthrow our government are heros in my view.
It is the very same facility that you mention.
been there cd? Just curious....
It's going to be very interesting to watch,read and listen as to who will benefit financially from the sale of the property-if it is indeed surplused by our illustrious government. There was no need for it's closure despite what these characters signed off on. This is a grand example of government waste bordered on some fraudulent finding/s. Unreal. Hearings and an investigation, please.
As they continue to turn their backs on our soldiers. How patriotic can you get?
My Uncle served in the Korean Conflict. He was laer diagnosed with what we now call PTSD. He was treated at Walter Reed in the early sixties. Approx....25 years later, he died of the Parkinson's Disease caused by the electro-shock treatments he received there. That 25 years of life was marred by total indifference by the VA Hospital in SLC. Good riddance Walter Reed. If there is a way I can swing the first hammer to knock it down, let me know.
Visited Walter Reed about 6 years ago. It was a wonderful experience reminding me of the extreme physical and mental ills our soldiers endure. The care I witnessed being given was topnotch. The history was captivating. God bless and keep the souls that have passed through those halls and continue to bless the current patients as they transfer to another facility.
Kruschev said that in the 60's he also said that the Soviet Union would bury the US....They didn't but it looks like congress and ourselves will bury US.
Robin....I also pray for the soldiers in VA care. My experience tells me they're gonna need it.
Ok look guys. I am also upset about the whole budget deal the government is fighting over right now, but this is something else entirely. The soldiers will simply be moved to an upgraded facility. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult it must be to make a 19th century building compatible with modern medical technology. They couldn't even have imagined the things that go on in a modern hospital. This is a good thing, not a bad one.
yes, and maybe while we're at it we can build some projects on Gettysburg's battlefield to house some nice undocumented workers or feed more people who live on welfare. Because modern is always better, right? And History has no place in modern society...so let's be nice to the illegals, the criminals, the lazy, the welfare mothers, all of them---because back in the day they'd have been kicked out into the street to fend for themselves and learn to work for a living but now, thank God, we're MODERN, so new is always better even if it wastes a hundred million dollars.
Wow..that made no sense at all. Do you know anything about 19th century medicine? They didn't even have antibiotics. The most common prescribed implement to deal with a bullet wound was a saw. While "modern" may not necessarily mean "better", with regards to medicine it certainly does. I'm all for making sure our veterans get the best possible medical care, not preserving a building. It is just that after all, a building.
Walter Reed, the Post Office, country infrastructure crumbling, invasion of illegal aliens from Latin America and beyond, 28,000 US solders on Korean Border/NATO/Middle East, debt ceilings to the moon,worlds policeman way past 20 year retirement, government gridlock,greedy lobbyists,wall street corruption, NAFTA & CAFTA sending jobs to China, Democraps & Rethuglicans at each others throats, 20% real unemployment etc, etc...........I often wonder what is going to be the straw that breaks the camels back?