214
215

1990–1999
216

u DPW staff members plant begonias 

in front of the hospital named in honor 

of former commanding Lt. General 

Heaton. 

Source: WRAMC History Office, PAO Historical 

Collection

The early 1990’s again brought 

war to the United States Army 

with the Iraqi invasion of 

Kuwait and the resultant Persian Gulf 

War. Despite initial estimates of higher 

casualties, the war between August 2, 

1990 and February 28, 1991, accounted 

for 151 deaths and 462 wounded 

among the American forces. Walter 

Reed was prepared for many more 

wounded but fortunately for all they 

did not materialize.

The campus continued to evolve 

with the addition of several new 

buildings. A much needed partial 

solution to the parking issues was 

answered by the addition of the 

Rumbaugh Parking Garage in 1993, 

named in honor of former WRAMC 

commander, Maj. General James 

Rumbaugh who helped procure its 

funding. The Borden Pavilion, built to 

house behavioral health providers and 

216

Title page - This aerial view of the more western portion of the campus shows 

the Walter Reed Memorial (1966) in the traffic circle at the bottom left of the photograph. In the bottom center is the Mologne House Hotel that opened in 1997. 

Source: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Directorate of Public Works Archives.

support personnel as well as clinical 

investigation activities, was opened 

in 1995 and named in honor of Lt. 

Colonel William Cline Borden, Medical 

Corps, U.S. Army. Dr. Borden was the 

main mover behind the establishment 

and naming of Walter Reed General 

Hospital. 

The Mologne House, with 200 rooms 

and suites, was opened in 1997 and 

named in honor of former Walter 

Reed commander, Maj. General Lewis 

A. Mologne who had a dream of a 

comfortable, safe, low cost place for 

soldiers and their families to stay 

while receiving out patient care or 

visiting loved ones at Walter Reed. 

A long needed new home for the Walter 

Reed Army Institute of Research 

(WRAIR) was built at the Forest Glen 

Annex and opened in 1999. In 2001, it 

was named in honor of Hawaii Senator 

Daniel K. Inouye, who in World War 

II was a member of the famed 442nd 

Regimental Combat Team one of the 

most highly decorated units in the 

history of the Army. For his service 

in World War II, he was awarded the 

Bronze Star Medal, the Distinguished 

Service Cross later upgraded to the 

Congressional Medal of Honor, and 

the Purple Heart. 
217

In 1990, Pauline Trost, wife of Chief 

of Naval Operations Admiral Carlisle 

Trost, presented to Zachary and 

Elizabeth Fisher the need for temporary 

lodging facilities for families at major 

military medical centers. The Fishers 

readily accepted the challenge and 

donated monies to start building two 

Fisher Houses, one at Bethesda and 

the other at Walter Reed. In June 1991, 

President George H. W. Bush dedicated 

the Fisher House at the National 

Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, 

MD. A second house, at the Forest 

Glen Annex to Walter Reed Army 

Medical Center, opened a month later. 

Since that time two additional Fisher 

Houses have been opened on the main 

campus at Walter Reed, the second in 

1996 and the third in 2004. Altogether 

the Fisher Foundation has built almost 

40 Fisher Houses on military bases 

and Veteran’s Administration hospital 

grounds. The Foundation plans for 

more than 60 houses by 2011. 
218

A new name. Workers put lettering on the front of Building 2, indicating that it is now the Heaton 

Pavilion. The name change honors the late Lt. General Leonard D. Heaton, who was commander 

at WRAMC from 1953 to 1959, and was Army Surgeon General from 1959 to 1969. A ceremony 

was held September 14, 1994 for the name change. 

Source: Stripe newspaper, September 16, 1994, Jerry Merideth - photographer
219

q This photo from the 1950s shows 

Heaton and his most famous patient, 

President Eisenhower. Heaton operated on the President in 1956 and 

became his physician until his death in 

1969. They were both avid golfers and 

became fast friends.

Source: Stripe newspaper, September 9, 1994 

t Building 2, the “new” hospital, was 

rededicated on September 14, 1994 to 

honor Lt. General Leonard D. Heaton. 

Heaton was Walter Reed Commander 

from 1953 to 1959. He served as Surgeon General of the Army from 1959 

to 1969. As a young doctor, he cared 

for the injured at Pearl Harbor. In 

1946, he started the Surgery Program 

at Walter Reed and became WRAMC 

Commander in 1952. Lt. General 

Heaton died in 1983.

Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine, AFIP, WRAMC History Collection
220

The Mologne House, a 200-room hotel for patients and their 

families, was dedicated on May 12, 1997. It was named for 

Maj. General Lewis A. Mologne, Commander of Walter Reed 

from June 22, 1983 to August 1, 1988. He took command at 

a time when Walter Reed was experiencing budgetary, personnel, and morale problems. He reenergized a sense of purpose and value, with an increased sense of teamwork and 

goal sharing. 

Maj. General Leslie Burger (CG WRAMC), Lt. General 

Ronald Blanck (Surgeon General of the Army), Lt. General 

Bernhard Mittemeyer (Ret.), and Mrs. Rose Mologne at 

the dedication of the Mologne House. Mologne House was 

dedicated to “a soldier’s general.”

Source: Stripe newspaper.
221

The fountain and courtyard (top) are surrounded by the Mologne House and the old WRAIR building. This staircase leads up to the front entrance of the hotel (bottom).

Source: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Directorate of Public Works Archives
222

t Elizabeth and Zachary Fisher 

funded Fisher Houses at Walter Reed 

Army Medical Center. The first house 

is at the Forest Glen Annex. The Fishers donated funds for houses built for 

families of patients hospitalized for 

long-term care at military posts around 

the country. The second house can accommodate up to 24 family members 

of very seriously ill patients. 

Source: Stripe newspaper, October 6, 1995

p The Zachary and Elizabeth Fisher Houses as they appear today. The groundbreaking for this first house on the Walter 

Reed campus was October 11, 1995. A second house, shown in the background, was built on campus in 2004.

Source: Borden Institute, Douglas Wise - photographer
223

A new guardhouse at one of the Georgia Avenue gates.

Source: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Directorate of Public Works Archives
224

In 1999, the new Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) building opened at Forest Glen. The building appears 

much larger than it actually is, as does the hospital (Building 2) on the WRAMC campus. Both were built with interstitial 

floors to provide access to physical plant and electrical systems. 

WRAIR and the Naval Medical Research 

Institute (NMRI) conduct research and 

development of products, procedures, 

and practices aimed at management 

of infectious diseases, combat injuries, operational medical problems, 

and chemical and biological threats. 

WRAIR and NMRI will continue the tradition of research at home and abroad, 

as well as collaborative work with academia and industry. The new research 

laboratory center serves as the focal 

point for combined Army-Navy medical research. In 2008, responsibility 

for WRAIR was transferred to Medical 

Research and Materiel Command.

Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine, AFIP, WRAMC History Collection

t The old WRAIR building (Building 

40) on the WRAMC campus viewed 

through cherry blossoms.
225
226

u Dr. Clarence G. Newsome, Associate Dean, Howard University School 

of Divinity, addresses the congregation 

at the annual memorial tribute to Dr. 

Martin Luther King, Jr., January 12 at 

the Memorial Chapel. 

Source: Stripe newspaper, January 19, 1990, 

Patrick Swan - photographer

t Feast of Dedication. Students from 

the Torah School of Greater Washington commemorate Chanukah, the 

“Feast of Dedication,” during a cantata 

in the Walter Reed Hospital’s Joel 

Auditorium.

Source: Stripe newspaper, December 18, 1998, 

Beau Whittington - photographer
227

p It was a sea of green and white at Walter Reed as the Army’s premier medical center hosted the first combined graduate medical education graduation ceremony between itself and the Navy’s flagship healthcare facility, the National Naval 

Medical Center in Bethesda, MD.

Source: Stripe newspaper, June 27, 1997

p “Buffalo Soldier” SFC John E. Wright of the 9th Cavalry, Tuskegee Airman Leroy A. Battle of the 99th Pursuit Fighter 

Squadron, and “Buffalo Rangers” George Jackson and Paul Lyles of the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) discuss 

contributions made by blacks to the armed forces during an African-American Heritage Month program February 4 in the 

hospital’s Joel Auditorium.

Source: Stripe newspaper, February 13, 1998, Bernard S. Little - photographer
228

p Bunnies begin the first leg of the 

“Fun Bunny Run” held April 12 at 

WRAMC (above). The run was sponsored by the Department of Nursing 

Socialization Association. Students of 

the Intensive Care Professional Nursing Course and other Department of 

Nursing personnel participated in the 

run held for the holiday and for Physical Fitness Readiness Test preparation.

Source: Stripe newspaper, April 20, 1990

u Advertisement for the sixty-fourth Easter Sunrise Service.

Source: Stripe newspaper
229

Joe Dickens, head gardener at the Department of Psychiatry’s Horticulture Therapy Greenhouse, prepares a few of the 

facility’s 500 poinsettia plants for delivery to Walter Reed wards during the holidays. Dickens, along with co-workers T. C. 

Williams, George Blevins, and Robert Coram, used many of the plants to create the center’s annual poinsettia tree in the 

hospital’s main lobby. The greenhouse was demolished by the end of the decade.

Source: Stripe newspaper, December 17, 1993, Jerry Merideth - photographer
230

p Robert Polhill, accompanied by Maj. General Cameron (WRAMC Commander), entering Walter Reed 

Hospital following his release from Lebanon, where he had been held hostage for 39 months (from January 24, 1987 to April 1990).

Source: NCP 1262

p 1992 change of command ceremony in front of the Heaton Pavilion with Maj. General Cameron, outgoing WRAMC Commander and Brig. General Ronald Blanck as incoming Commander.

Source: Blanck Collection
231

p President William J. Clinton is enjoying his conversation with a young patient 

on Ward 51 during an October 1993 visit to the hospital.

Source: Stripe newspaper, April 28, 2006

p President Bill Clinton visiting a soldier 

wounded in Somalia.

Source: WRAMC History Office, PAO Historical 

Collection
232

Col. Catharine Carpenter (left) discusses proposal changes with Col. Baird and Maj. Sullivan (in scrubs) that 

will transform this delivery room into a birthing room.

Source: Stripe newspaper, June 28, 1991, Bonnie S. Heater - photographer
233

t Lt. Lynn Jinishian provides tender loving care to a premature baby.

Source: Stripe newspaper, February 2, 1990

u Maj. Lenhart tends to her son in the Newborn Intensive 

Care Unit.

Source: Cox Collection, 1992

t Maj. Dave Mahoney holds newborn 

in delivery room. 1993.

Source: Murry Collection
234

p Maj. Ernest Lockrow, DO, views a monitor as he performs a total laparoscopic hysterectomy.

Source: Stripe newspaper, Ramona E. Joyce - photographer
235

p Surgeon, Col. Harold Fenster, performs Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s second laparoscopic 

cholecystectomy for gallbladder removal, October 16, 1990. 

Source: Stripe newspaper, October 1990

p The public was invited to observe how the Army cares for its soldiers in the field during an open house 

that showcased a Deployable Medical System at Walter Reed.

Source: Stripe newspaper, March 28, 1997
236

t The Walter Reed Army Medical Center Blood Donor 

Center sends out the call for donors.

Source: Stripe newspaper, July 17, 1992

p A letter written by a Glen Haven Elementary School 

student to the Walter Reed Precision Drill Team. As part 

of WRAMC’s Adopt-A-School program the Medical Center 

Brigade soldiers had recently performed for the students. 

Source: Stripe newspaper, April 20, 1990
237

Ocularist Vince Przybyla paints the iris of a plastic eye. Painting the iris requires 

a very subtle mixing of paints to get a perfect color match with the patient’s other 

eye.

Source: Stripe newspaper, September 10, 1993, Barry Reichenbaugh - photographer
238

A logo created to commemorate the 90th anniversary of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Source: Stripe newspaper, April 23, 1999
239

The Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington National Cemetery honors the unknown dead of several wars. Modern science and 

DNA testing made it possible to identify the bodies of nearly all the military who died during the Vietnam War. On May 14, 

1998, the body of the Vietnam War Unknown was disinterred and brought by military escort to the Armed Forces Institute 

of Pathology, at Walter Reed for testing and identification. Members of the Department of Defense Honor Guard remove 

the casket of the Vietnam Unknown from a hearse in front of the AFIP Building. 

Source: Stripe newspaper, May 15, 1998, Veronica Ferris - photographer
240
241

This collection of artifacts from the treatment of President Abraham Lincoln remains on display today at the National 

Museum of Health and Medicine.

Source: National Museum of Health and Medicine, AFIP, NCP 3395, Mike Rhode - photographer