Every patient is special at Walter Reed, but some come to the President’s Hospital with a little more notoriety than others. These include service members who have received the military’s highest decoration, the Medal of Honor (MoH).

When they share their stories of heroism that earned them the MoH, recipients are humble and make it clear that they were only doing their job when they share their stories of heroism that earned them the MoH. Some of those MoH recipients returned to Walter Reed in December to visit current patients at the hospital.

Walter Reed has two memorials recognizing those service members whose “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty” earned them the MoH.

On the second level of Bldg. 10, just outside of Clark Auditorium, memorial walls salute those in military medicine who received the MoH from the late 1800s through the Korean War. Also, at Walter Reed, a granite wall in the plaza outside of the America Bldg. lists those service members in military medicine who earned the MoH from the Civil War to Vietnam.

More recently, Walter Reed provided care for U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Kyle Carpenter after he was injured in Afghanistan on Nov. 21, 2010. He is the youngest living MoH recipient. According to his MoH citation, as Carpenter and another Marine were manning a rooftop security post from a Taliban attack, a grenade landed near where they were positioned. “Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his safety, Lance Corporal Carpenter moved toward the grenade in an attempt to shield his fellow Marine from the deadly blast. When the grenade detonated, his body absorbed the brunt of the blast, severely wounding him but saving the life of his fellow Marine.”

Carpenter's jaw and right arm were shattered, and he lost his right eye and most of his teeth. He received care at Walter Reed, and on Nov. 10, 2011, not quite a year after he was injured and on the U.S. Marine Corps’ 236th birthday, Carpenter participated in the official dedication ceremony for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, recognizing the joining of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center.

Carpenter was medically retired in 2013, and he received the MoH during a White House ceremony on June 19, 2014.

Also receiving care at Walter Reed was U.S. Army Capt. Florent Groberg, another recent MoH recipient. He was injured on Aug. 8, 2012, while serving as a personal security detachment commander for Task Force Mountain Warrior, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division in Afghanistan.

While leading a dismounted movement of several senior leaders, Groberg observed an individual walking close to the formation make an abrupt turn and an abnormal bulge underneath the individual’s clothing.

“Selflessly placing himself in front of one of the brigade commanders, Captain Groberg rushed forward, using his body to push the suspect away from the formation. Simultaneously, he ordered another security detail member to assist with removing the suspect. At this time, Captain Groberg confirmed the bulge was a suicide vest, With complete disregard for his life, Captain Groberg again, with the assistance of the other members of the security detail, physically pushed the suicide bomber away from the formation. Upon falling, the suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest outside the perimeter of the formation, killing four members of the formation and wounding numerous others.” This blast caused the suicide vest of a previously unnoticed second suicide bomber to detonate “with minimal impact on the formation.”

Groberg lost nearly half of his left calf muscle with significant nerve damage, suffered a blown eardrum, and had a mild traumatic brain injury. He spent his recovery at Walter Reed from August 2012 through May 2015. He received the MoH during a White House ceremony on Nov. 12, 2015.