This is so sad to hear this.. You can tell I am out of the loop of my American news..
Yesterday I visited the Canada Veterans Hall of Valor here and was overwhelmed with tears.
The curator an old friend of mine wants me to do a piece on it and I will.
Nothing is too good for our veterans..
This saddens me Scanner.
HUGGGGGGGGGGGG

My Dad was an army Medic and specialized in helping soldiers get proper fittings and adapt to prosthetic gear when they returned from war. That was WWII.

Bless you for this post. r.

Well said, Scanner; a fitting eulogy and a reminder against forgetting. Thank you for this.

My sister was born there. As a kid one of my favorite books was the Landmark Book about Walter Reed and the cure for yellow fever.

I saw this on the news and was hoping someone at OS would write about it and you did a beaautiful job and the pictures are superb. As a girl who grew up in the DC area, Walter Reed was a symbol of our nation's greatness. My sister was born their and the military precision with which the hospital was run was very impressive. Our country is seeing its decline. I had no idea it would happen so fast.

I hoped you would do a post on this Scanner and you did not fail me.
'Tis a sad state of crap for our country.
Nuff said...

I was dumbfounded when I heard the sad news.
One of the Department of Defense goons may buy.
The bids on government buildings go for $1.00.

Some creep will make it his/her whore playhouse.
I would be shuttled back and forth from two places.
Walter Reed would evaluate my two lower leg wounds.
Then the Fort Meade's Kimbrough Hospital was a bed.
One day I went to see a vet who was in the First Calvary.
He was wounded when we grunts were with a Cav Unit.
We drove 'shotgun' for a tank unit. The 11th Armored.
The very likable 1/12 'D' Company. My drafted into`
`
Drafted - Infantry Brigade
'D. Co. First of the 12th Cav
a gentleman nicknamed `
`
Cranky lost both his legs.
I went to visit dear Cranky.
I was informed that he died.
It was a hot summer in July.
I was wounded in February.
I still recall my sadness as`
`
I opened the Walter Reed doors.
The DC heat felt as if I died and
Landed in the proverbial hell.
The hurt-memory is still vivid.
Thanks scanner. Shame Shame.
Shame on politicos wicked deeds.

Well said, scanner....

Freedom damn sure ain't Free!

Scanner, thanks for posting this great tribute! Sure looks like a huge mistake to close Walter Reed, the place could have been fixed in any way needed with a fraction of the money spent on the "war on terror." It is definitely a name that is synonymous with helping lots and lots of military personnel, and even presidents, over many, many years!

Thanks, Scanman.

It seems like there is a campaign to eliminate all evidence of the sacrifices made by soldiers and sailors sometimes. When the long term history is purged then it can be minimized. The tens of thousands will be forgotten and the presidents and senators and such will be the ones that Walter Reed is remembered for. I hate what our country is becoming. A place where our ideals have been perverted for profit and the benefits of the sacrifices of the people who fought and gave so much is just a way for some bastard to get a vote. Walter Reed is in need of replacement with a modern facility, but the place where so many Americans came for treatment after serving their country should be preserved.

I'm so glad that it was you, scanner, that wrote about the closing of Walter Reed. A well-rounded focus on this place of pain, hope, and determination.

Your tribute is genuine and so caring. Thank you to all our troops, past and present who have served!

Linda, I would love to visit the Canada Veterans Hall of Valor. American's do not realize the sacrifice Canada has made!
Linnn, I bet you're very proud of your dad, and i thank him!
Jon, thanks for coming by~
Jerry, this was my whole point. People forgetting. My dad was there 2 or 3 times, and I am glad it was there for him.
Con, that's cool about your sister. Military family?
Miguela Holt y Roybal, thank you and Walter Reed was a great place.
Mis, I hate it too. I really think it could have been re-modeled.
Art, I know this place has good, and bad memories for you. Not only did people get well there, they also died, unfortunately!
Kate, thanks. I stole that from somewhere, maybe Bob Dylan?
D, I agree, at least keep parts open. They say they plan on making it a memorial, some of it, but how valuable is that land? What could fucking developers build their? Either way, the poor will get squeezed out, as usual!
Matt, anything for you my friend!
Bob, in this corporate world, the poor and disabled no longer mean anything. Just as they argue at this moment about cutting entitlements, so goes Walter Reed. They couldn't even fix it up well enough to house disabled veterans.
Isch, I didn't want to put politics into this. I just wanted to give a tribute to a place that saved lives and made disabled lives easier. Thanks~

This is a loving tribute to another place destined to join the ranks of our era. Nothing lives forever I guess, but it doesn't make it any less sad or important.

Thanks so much for this, Scanner.
I enjoyed all the photos and clips you've found.
My uncle was a thoracic surgeon at Walter Reed for many years.

Thanks, Scanner. Great post. -R-

Good post, Scanner.

Nothing is perfect and WR has taken its share of hit. I receive treatment at VAMC Durham. The care in Durham is first rate and our people deserve the best.

I missed this story, so thanks.

""Freedom damn sure ain't Free!""

We could be willing to pay almost any price for freedom - IF we ever got it.

As things stand now we ordinary citizens who serve in the military, pay the price for freedom only to have the elite usurp it. I wonder if those fine men and women who pay so dearly for "our freedom" would be willing to pay that price if they were told the truth, "you'll be expected to lay down life and limb so that the elite may live better at the expense of your friends, family and community."

ᴼᴥƪ

.

A sign of the times, Scanner. The elderly and the former soldiers get thrown under the bus first. That's okay, I guess until of course it is the other guy's turn to go under that same bus.

Where in the world did you find all of these photos? I didn't even realize they were closing the hospital? Why? It seems very sad to close such an important historical institution. These photos reminded me of how much I hate war. I love our military and that's why I hate war!!! There has got to be better ways. Aren't we too civilized for this by now?!

Have they said what they're going to do with it? I guess I should look that up ... thanks for this very well-done piece -- the photos are powerful. R.

Wonderful post, its my EP today.
I don't know what happened that led to this
I wonder if the same work done there in its golden days
will be done elsewhere now.
As Linda said, nothing is too good for our veterans.
I pray that they can still get it.
rated with love

Absolutely staggering post, Scanner.
Image after image, compounding the horror and the
healing
horror and healing...
what a symbol: once an arsenal,
then a hospital.

this post will never leave my mind's eye's memory.

Some relevant quotes about war on the occasion:

A great war leaves a country with three armies: an army of cripples, an army of mourners, and an army of thieves.
~Anonymous (German)

Why should we hear about body bags, and deaths...I mean, it's not relevant. So why should I waste my beautiful mind on something like that?
~Barbara Bush
(About the quote: Mrs. Bush spoke these words on ABC's "Good Morning America," March 18, 2003)

War in the end is always about betrayal, betrayal of the young by the old, of soldiers by politicians, and of idealists by cynics.
~Chris Hedges

The tragedy of modern war is that the young men die fighting each other--instead of their real enemies back home in the capitals.
~Edward Abbey

A hospital alone shows what war is.
~Erich Maria Remarque

I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
~George McGovern

Our nation is somewhat sad, but we’re angry. There’s a certain level of blood lust, but we won’t let it drive our reaction. We’re steady, clear-eyed and patient, but pretty soon we’ll have to start displaying scalps.
~George W. Bush

There is nothing more frightening than active ignorance.
~Goethe

Old men declare war. But it is the youth that must fight and die.
~Herbert C. Hoover

In peace, sons bury their fathers; in war, fathers bury their sons.
~Herodotus

We will not learn how to live together in peace by killing each other's children.
~Jimmy Carter

War is eternity jammed into frantic minutes that will fill a lifetime with dreams and nightmares.
~John Cory

War is the tool of small-minded scoundrels who worship the death of others on the altar of their greed.
~John Cory

There are no politics in war. Politics is the luxury of the safe-at-home. War is a lottery of survival.
~John Cory

War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today.
~John F. Kennedy

The hardest thing for me in Vietnam wasn't seeing the wounded and dead. It was watching the big transport jets come in, bringing loads of fresh new boys for the war.
~Johnny Cash

In war, there are no unwounded soldiers.
~Jose Narosky

War doesn't make boys men, it makes men dead.
~Ken Gillespie

yeah, where ya hiding your EP???

Thanks for coming by ya'll. I hope I did a little justice to the closing of Water Reed, without too much bickering about the politics behind war. War is a terrible thing, and I hate it, but today, I just wanted to talk about men and women who cared for our soldiers. Libby, those quotes were great. I may steal one or two. Jim, I don't get these things called EP's, seems I pissed off the bosses, hah! I could care less, Mad Men and American Idol need to be on the cover, we have to sell this place to stay in business~

What a fine tribute. Even to those of us who had never been to Walter Reed or knew anyone who spent time there, the place itself seemed like a fixture, a part of America that would always be there. I guess nothing lasts forever, and I just hope that soldiers and former soldiers will not suffer because of the closing.

Times are a changing my friend - the good and the not so good. I salute your Dad as well. Rated with a Jali Smile.

Scanner, why are they closing it? Is there a new hospital somewhere to take its place? This was a lovely, heartfelt tribute.

Lezlie

L, they're going to send them to a hospital in Ft. Belboir, Va. and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.
While a few building with be saved for "historical significance" , the others, according to the town manager, "probably will be torn down. The city is expected to develop its section for retail and other uses". In other words, it will be a high-class offices/retail stores/apartments for the rich. How could we ever expect any difference?

I'm not too fond of the wars they fight most if not all of which are unjustified; however the decisions are made by the higher ups then they give propaganda to the public including those that fight the wars. It won't solve problems to shut this down; I hope they have other facilities that do the job.

And of course they should stop fighting the wars so they eventually really won't need to keep patching them back together.