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Naval Hospital Bremerton Remembers One of their Own
Story Number: NNS130430-02
4/30/2013

By Douglas H Stutz, Naval Hospital Bremerton Public Affairs

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- A staff memoriam service was held at Naval Hospital Bremerton Pastoral Care department (NHB) on Friday, April 26, 2013, for Lt. Christopher M. Gallagher, a former hospital corpsman assigned to NHB.

Gallagher died as a result of a motorcycle accident April 3, 2009, in Norfolk, Va., at the age of 23.

He was a fourth year Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences medical student scheduled to graduate that May. He had worked in NHB's Radiology Department from 2002 to 2005 as a laboratory technician before being accepted to become a as a physician.

Friends and co-workers gathered in the NHB Chapel for the service presided by Lt. Cmdr. Timothy May, NHB Command Chaplain. Lt. Cmdr. Leslie Councilor and other former and current Laboratory workers shared their heart-felt memories of Gallagher.

"He had energy. He felt he knew all there was in being a lab tech and wanted to do more," remembered Councilor, former Laboratory Division Officer from 2000 to2002, who worked with Gallagher, then a hospital corpsman 3rd class.

The last time Councilor saw Gallagher was at Naval Medical Center San Diego in 2008. It was when she was assigned to Naval Hospital Sigonella, Italy, from 2008 to 2012 when she found out about his fatal accident in 2009. "I cried. The host national staff there asked me what was wrong and I told them. They cried also."

The hospital recently learned of his death from close friend Regina Dansbee and upon conferring with leadership, it was immediately decided to honor and remember his passing with the memorial service and adding his name to the Staff Memorial Plaque located in the Chapel.

USU noted in a tribute to Gallagher that he was "immensely proud of his Navy heritage. Gallagher had long dreamt of becoming a uniformed physician and successfully overcame several hurdles to reach acceptance at USU. Friends recall his intellectual curiosity, proactive nature and comforting sense of presence. He is honored in loving memory."

For more news from Naval Hospital Bremerton, visit www.navy.mil/local/nhb/.