Photo By Esther Garcia | (From left) Dr. Dale Smith, senior vice president of the Uniformed Services University...... read more read more
SAN ANTONIO -- Staff and faculty at the Army Medical Department Center and School gathered at Blesse Auditorium June 27 to celebrate the 237th Birthday of the AMEDD Regiment and recognize some of their top people.
“This celebration is about all of our corps and the great traditions and legacies we have,” said Maj. Gen. Philip Volpe, AMEDDC&S commanding general and host for the ceremony.
“The officer corps, the enlisted corps, our NCOs, and the civilian corps … through many years have come together as a team to better serve our service members and their families whether on a garrison installation or on battlefield around the world,” the general added.
Guests at the ceremony included Alice Neel, widow of Maj. Gen. Spurgeon Neel, an Army physician who pioneered the development of aeromedical evacuation of battlefield casualties, and retired Brig. Gen. Charles Elia, of the veterinary Corps, who turned 91 years old.
The keynote speaker was Dr. Dale Smith, senior vice president of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, who provided the history of military medicine contributions to advances in civilian medicine beginning in 1775 to the current wars.
“The AMEDD is more than 200 yrs old and it is important to remember that while we frequently call that the medical Corps’ birthday, the people that came to support soldiers in 1775 were not commissioned, they were civilian doctors on the battlefield,” Smith said.
“And, those people, some of whom had medical degrees and some whom were a string of health providers, met all the roles that all corps meet today," Smith added. “Dentist, farriers and veterinarians, nurses, and the ambulance corps all came from that same root."
“Today, they all still work together to do that exact same mission. Take care of those that are hurt in the battlefield, conserve the fighting strength, and when the nation needs them, become the first responders in times of humanitarian disaster.”
Volpe presented Smith with a certificate appointing him as an adjunct professor with the Academy of Health Sciences, AMEDDC&S, for his accomplishments as an educator and historian.
In a special presentation Volpe recognized another individual, Jacqueline Smith, wife of Master Sgt. John Smith, AMEDDC&S.
Volpe presented the Doctor Mary Walker Award to Jacqueline for her dedicated volunteer work and her work, quilting, depicting the Army Medical Department crest which now hangs inside Blesse Auditorium.
Walker is the only woman in the United States history to receive the Medal of Honor. She became one of the first women physicians in the country in 1855.
The ceremony also included the presentation of the Army Superior Unit Award streamer to the AMEDDC&S banner. AMEDDC&S received the Secretary of the Army award for exceptionally meritorious performance for the period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010 in support of overseas contingency operations while simultaneously planning and executing a complex reorganization under the Base Realignment and Closure directives.
| Date Taken: | 08.02.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.06.2012 14:28 |
| Story ID: | 92728 |
| Location: | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 163 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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