12-30-11: Music at Walter Reed

This segment originally aired September 9, 2011. On August 27, the last 18 patients moved from the now-shuttered Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to the Naval Medical Center in Bethesda.

For over a century, Walter Reed provided care for our armed forces’ sick and wounded. For much of the past decade, it stood as a grim, yet inspiring reminder of the sacrifices some Americans made as our nation went to war after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Today, we’ll hear some stories from a Maryland woman who spent a lot of time at Walter Reed over the past three years. Musician Carolyn Surrick played the viola da gamba for soldiers at the Mologne House just about every Friday until Walter Reed closed. She now plays Fridays at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.

On December 11, 30-year-old U.S. Army Specialist Ronald H. Wildrick, Jr., of Woodsboro, was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. He was one of eight soldiers and Marines Maryland lost in 2011. Here are the others, from an informal list of Maryland casualties kept by the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs.

Lance Corporal Maung P. Htaik, United States Marine Corps, 20 years old, Hagerstown

Staff Sergeant James M. Malachowski, United States Marine Corps, 25 years old, Westminster

Captain Charles E. Ridgley, Jr., U.S. Army, 40 years old, Baltimore

Master Sergeant Tara R. Brown, United States Air Force, 33 years old, Bowie

Specialist Barun Rai, U.S. Army, 24 years old, Silver Spring

Sergeant Jameel T. Freeman, U.S. Army, 26 years old, Baltimore

Lieutenant Colonel David E. Cabrera, U.S. Army, 41 years old, Olney

Thanks to Katie Sonntag of the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs for providing us with her office’s informal list of Maryland casualties.