June 17, 2014 -- Seaman Recruit Lawrence Depaul, left, and Chief Marco A. Escobar, right, the youngest and oldest hospital corpsmen assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point’s Naval Health Clinic, take part in a Navy Hospital Corps birthday ceremony, June 17, 2014.
The ceremony commemorated the Navy Hospital Corps’ 116th birthday. Since the establishment of the corpsman rating in 1898, corpsmen have deployed with Sailors and Marines worldwide, providing medical treatment worldwide on the front lines, during numerous wars and contingency operations.
“There are more than 20,000 hospital corpsmen currently serving in the Navy, but to the 181 hospital corpsmen who are here on our team, I am extremely proud of each and every one of you for answering the call to duty and for your selfless service,” said Capt. John F. Ferguson, commanding officer of the Naval Health Clinic here. “Stay committed to one another and to the values and principles built by your brothers and sisters in the past.”