The I Marine Expeditionary Force Petty Officer 1st Class Association held a dedication ceremony for a Hospital Corpsmen Memorial to Navy corpsman killed in action since March 2002 at the Field Medical Training Battalion West, Sept. 26.

The granite monument bearing the names of 39 honored corpsmen was made possible through car washes, T-shirt sales, donations from around the country, barbeques and special events held by the Petty Officer 1st Class Association.

More than $9,000 was raised in three years to make this memorial possible, said Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher L. Johnson, hospital corpsman and comrade of those inscribed on the memorial.

“For over 110 years the Navy corpsman has been a beacon of strength and a pillar of compassion to his brother Marine,” said retired Lt. Col. Scott C. Shuster, who served alongside two of the corpsman being honored.

Each hero was honored for their ultimate sacrifice during a bell ceremony. During the bell ceremony portion, a fellow corpsman placed a dog tag with each of the fallen’s names on a Kevlar, rifle and boot memorial.

The association wanted the memorial to honor the fallen, to stand the test of time, and be displayed somewhere special to the Fleet Marine Force corpsman.

Field Medical Training Battalion West, where the transformation from Navy blue to Marine Corps green begins for corpsmen, made the most appropriate location on Camp Pendleton for the memorial, said Christopher Johnson.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Van Johnson, hospital corpsman, died in Iraq on March 25, 2003 after being thrown from his vehicle by a rocket propelled grenade.

Christopher Johnson said he thought his world had ended when he found his friend had been killed.

“Up until that point in my career, I had never lost a patient, never lost another corpsman and definitely never lost a friend,” he added.

The fallen will look down, from wherever they are, and know their memory will live on in the hearts and minds of all who train to become green-side corpsman, Johnson said.

“For this generation and those of the future, this memorial will stand here with its simple dignity and profound meaning to those who aspire to be called ‘Doc’,” he said.

I AM THE ONE CALLED “DOC”

I shall not walk in your footsteps,

but I will walk by your side.

I shall not walk in your image,

I’ve earned my own title of pride.

We’ve answered the call together,

on sea and foreign land.

When the cry for help was given,

I’ve been there right at hand.

Whether I am on the ocean

or in the jungle wearing greens,

giving aid to my fellow man,

be it sailors or Marines.

So the next time you see a

corpsman and you think of

calling him "squid,”

think of the job he’s doing as

those before him did.

And if you ever have to go out

there and your life is on the block,

look at the one right next to you...

I’m the one called "Doc.”

Harry D. Penny, Jr. HMC (AC)USN

Copyright 1975