JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Hospital Corps "A" School instructors and staff from Navy Medicine Training Support Center conducted a unique birthday celebration June 17 at the hospital corpsman student barracks at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in recognition of the Hospital Corps' 116th birthday.
NMTSC officers and hospital corpsman students from the tri-service Medical Education and Training Campus were also among those attending the birthday celebration that not only included the traditional birthday cake cutting, but also featured a ribbon cutting for the Hospital Corps heritage displays.
The displays are located in the two Hospital Corps barracks buildings, Fralish and Jaenke Halls. The displays include uniform items, equipment such as medication and emergency bags, medical exam tools, manuals and historical photos of hospital corpsmen and Hospital Corps-related ceremonies.
The items came primarily from the Hospital Corps School Great Lakes, which was relocated to JBSA-Fort Sam Houston April 21, 2011, and from items donated by local hospital corpsmen.
The Fralish Hall display has items from the inception of the Hospital Corps through the Korean War. Fralish Hall was named after Petty Officer 3rd Class John Fralish, a hospital corpsman killed Feb. 6, 2006, by enemy fire during a fire fight with insurgents while on patrol in Afghanistan.
The Jaenke Hall display is from the Vietnam era to present day. Jaenke Hall was named after Petty Officer 2nd Class Jaime Jaenke, a hospital corpsman killed June 5, 2006, by a roadside bomb in Iraq.
"The theme of the Hospital Corps birthday ceremony was 'Heroes from the Past to the Present,'" said Chief Petty Officer Kimberly Ortmeyer, a pharmacy tech instructor at METC and NMTSC Heritage Committee chair. "We thought it would make the Hospital Corps birthday celebration more profound for the students by tying corpsman heritage to the birthday ceremony."
Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Don Mason spoke about the history of the Hospital Corps.
"We Hospital Corpsmen have a very proud and illustrious heritage since our inception in 1898," said Mason, who was awarded the Navy Cross for heroism as a medical corpsman while serving with a Marine Infantry Company in Korea in 1952.
"As I look back on my time and compare it to today's Hospital Corps, I see both change and enduring traditions," Mason noted. "Obviously, training and education techniques used in today's Navy are vastly different and better. Medical knowledge and practice are enormously advanced from what we knew. HMs are better educated and better trained than ever before."
Guest speaker Petty Officer 1st Class James Pell, a NMETC search and rescue instructor, spoke about today's Hospital Corps and the modern hero.
A veteran of combat operations during multiple tours in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Pell said, "Enlisting into the military during a time of war is an act of heroism in itself. Each and every one of us has made the commitment to serve our country, no questions asked."
Pell's awards include the Bronze Star with Combat Valor, two Purple Hearts, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with combat valor, and the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with combat valor.
"A modern-day hero is not just one person or one act by an individual who is admired for bravery or noble qualities, as the dictionary says," Pell said.
"The modern hero has everything to lose and still puts his own wellbeing second to those they serve with and for."
Seaman Alexander Turner, a 19-year-old Hospital Corps student from Atlanta, has been in the Navy for six months and said he was astonished by what he heard and saw during the ceremony.
"Amazing historical facts and information were given about hospital corpsmen," Turner said. "It makes me really proud to know where we came from. I'm filled with pride to be part of it."
Mason seemed to enjoy the afternoon events as much as the students.
"It was just great," Mason said. "I'm always pleased to rub elbows with hospital corpsmen and medical personnel. I enjoyed very much talking to the youngsters," Mason said. "In them, I see enthusiasm. I see legacy and heritage building. I see all the things that I see in the hospital corps pledge - faithfulness, sacred trust, loyalty, honesty, dedication and above all honor."
NMTSC is an echelon 4 command reporting to the Navy Medicine Education and Training Command. It is also part of the Navy Medicine team, a global health-care network of Navy medical professionals around the world who provide high-quality health care to eligible beneficiaries.
Navy Medicine personnel deploy with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing critical mission support aboard ships, in the air, under the sea and on the battlefield.