(From left) Scott Schoner, Col. Mary Garr, retired Maj. Gen Patrick Brady, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, retired Maj. Gen. Patrick Sculley, retired Maj. Gen. Kenneth Farmer and Marc Long celebrate the groundbreaking for the Army
Medical Department Museum Foundation's $1.3 million Medal of Honor Walk addition to the museum grounds. Construction will start this fall.

Story and photos by Phil Reidinger

The Army Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, led a group of senior former Army medical leaders breaking ground on a new Medal of Honor Walk at the Army Medical Department Museum on June 30.

The Army Medical Department Museum Foundation is leading the fund raising campaign to secure approximately $1.3 million in donations to construct the facility which is expected to start this fall. The construction will include a covered 250 seat amphitheater, plaza, exhibit pavilion, two additional exhibit pergolas and the Medal of Honor Walk with monuments and possibly a kiosk. The kiosk will tell the stories of the 52 Army Medical Department Medal of Honor recipients.

The new construction will be integrated with the current museum exhibits such as the aeromedical evacuation pavilion, the Dustoff Wall of Fame, the hospital rail car exhibit and the Maj. Gen. Spurgeon Neel memorial courtyard. Neel is considered the father of aeromedical evacuation.

During his remarks Maj. Gen. Patrick Sculley, chairman of the board of the AMEDD Museum Foundation noting the representation by several Federal, state and local elected officials at the ceremony recognized the continuing, historic support of the San Antonio community. "It is one huge continuous embrace of military families," he said.

Schoomaker noted the 52 Army medical personnel awarded the Medal of Honor among them 16 officers, one warrant officer, 33 enlisted medics and two civilians. "This is a great day for us. I can't think of a better way to show appreciation for their service," he said.