JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Military and support personnel assigned to Naval Medical Research Unit San Antonio gathered to commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of Midway at the Tri-Service Research Laboratory at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston June 7.
The Battle of Midway, one of the most important battles of the Pacific campaign in World War II, occurred between June 4 and 7, 1942. It is considered by many historians to be the most decisive engagement in modern naval warfare.
A Battle of Midway script was read by Lt. Cmdr. William Arden, of Thornwell, Louisiana, head of NAMRU San Antonio’s Biomaterials Department, Craniofacial Health and Restorative Medicine Directorate, followed by a video produced by the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Closing remarks were delivered by Capt. Linda Dunn Smith, NAMRU San Antonio executive officer.
“The next expected war won’t allow us to have air superiority as we have had in the past,” Smith said. “Our wars are going to look more like how we fought in WWII, fighting at sea.”
She stated that the wounded may not be medically evacuated as quickly and it is of great importance for the people at NAMRU San Antonio, who focus on gap-based driven research, to be innovative and creative to support the warfighter.
NAMRU San Antonio’s mission is to conduct gap-driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of Department of Defense personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations.
It is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the Department of Defense and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.