Our History

Military medicine has a long and celebrated history. We apply lessons from our past to improve the care of military personnel and their families today and in the future. New surgical techniques, powerful painkillers, antibiotic drugs, and triage and evacuation procedures have revolutionized military medicine.

In this section, you'll find featured stories and information about the history of military medicine.

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Article
June 4, 2024

The Heroic Nurses of D-Day: ‘I Could Not Sit Idly By’

The Heroic Nurses of D-Day: ‘I Could Not Sit Idly By’

U.S. Army Corps nurses played a pivotal role in the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, the largest sea, air, and land invasion in history. Eighty years ago, the allied forces, including nearly 160,000 American, British, and Canadian service members, landed on the beaches at Normandy and began pushing inland. Nurses were deployed soon ...

Article
May 27, 2024

Revolutionizing Mental Health Support: The Game Changing Role of the U.S. Navy Special Psychiatric Rapid Intervention Team

Navy Medicine graphic

Seven sailors died, and 48 others were injured when the guided a missile frigate and the aircraft carrier collided while performing nighttime exercises on Nov. 22, 1975. For years, the traumatic experience of that collision scarred many sailors who escaped physical injury but carried the invisible weight of the tragedy. The psychiatrists involved in ...

Video
May 22, 2024

Nurses of Vietnam - Liberty's Rosary Beads

Nurses of Vietnam - Liberty's Rosary Beads

Lt Col Frances Liberty, with the US Army Nurses Corps, recounts the heartwarming story of a soldier she cared for during the Vietnam War, the lasting impression they made on each other, and the keepsake he recieved from her, an item which he still holds dear to this day. Interviews courtesy of the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item ...

Article
May 6, 2024

U.S. Navy Medicine Announces Sailor of the Year

Military personnel with award

U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Peter Munoz from Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Twentynine Palms, California, was announced as Navy Medicine's 2023 Sailor of the Year, on April 24, 2024.