FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA (Aug. 11, 2015) -- Womack Army Medical Center celebrated 57 years of service and 15 years in the current facility during Womack Day, Aug. 7.
The celebration began at 9 a.m. in front of the Reilly Road entrance to the hospital with a ceremony honoring the facility's namesake, Pfc. Bryant Homer Womack.
Womack was the only medic attached to a night combat patrol near Sokso-ri, Korea, March 12, 1952. When the patrol made contact with a numerically superior enemy, he exposed himself to enemy fire in order to render aid to the numerous casualties. Although he was seriously wounded, Womack refused any medical aid for himself and continued providing medical care. When he later lost his right arm after being struck by enemy mortar fire, Womack still refused aid and continued directing others in first aid techniques. He was the last man to withdraw, walking until he collapsed from loss of blood. He died a few minutes later while his fellow Soldiers were carrying him off the field.
For his actions that night, Womack posthumously received the Medal of Honor. He was 20 years old.
Womack's sister, Rachel Elliott, was the only one at their home in Mill Spring, N.C., when the taxi pulled up with the notification that he was killed in action. She was the one who had to tell her parents when they returned home from grocery shopping.
The hospital's former location at what is now the Soldier Support Center was named for Pfc. Womack when it opened on Aug. 3, 1958. When the facility moved to its current location, the name Womack Army Medical Center came with it. Elliott was at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the building in 2000 and she returned again for Womack Day to see her brother's continuing legacy.
She said Womack would be proud to see that his name continues to be associated with the medical profession.
"He enjoyed being a medic and saving people's lives; helping the wounded and the sick," said Elliott, who at 86 still remembers her brother vividly as a quiet young man who loved playing practical jokes on his Family almost as much as he loved his dogs, hunting, fishing and riding bicycles.
During the ceremony, Col. John Melton, chief of staff, WAMC, spoke of Womack as a man of humble means faced with extraordinary circumstances. Melton asked that everyone leave the ceremony thinking of three points inspired by the life of the hospital's namesake -- show respect, be inspired and make a choice.
"We are who we choose to be," said Melton. "How do you choose to live your life every day?"
After the ceremony, Elliott was shown a video honoring her brother and his service to the nation in WAMC's Weaver Auditorium. The video played throughout the rest of the morning providing visitors and guests participating in tours of the facility and exploring the hospital's Open House the chance to learn more about the young medic's life.
The day culminated with Organization Day, a celebration of the WAMC staff.
"Everyone working here either touches a patient or enables those that do," said Melton. "This is the center of the military universe and you help take care of, and directly impact, all of the people serving here at the home of the Army's airborne and special operations forces."
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