Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton staff members, friends and family gathered in the Pastoral Care Lobby for a birthday ceremony celebrating the 118th birthday of the Hospital Corps, June 17.

The ceremony began with a welcome message, a brief corpsman history and the reading of birthday messages from Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Nellar and Hospital Corps Force Master Chief Terry J. Prince.

"Thank you for everything you have done, what you currently do and all your future efforts in order to provide the best care to our nation's sons and daughters," said Prince in his message. "It is an honor to represent you as the force and I look forward to even greater things in the years to come. Happy 118th birthday Hospital Corps."

Following the messages, NHCP Commanding Officer Capt. Lisa Mulligan gave a few remarks on the hard work of hospital corpsmen and how decorated they are as a rate.

"Navy corpsmen have received 22 medals of honor. There are 20 ships named after corpsmen. Corpsmen have won 174 Navy crosses and 946 silver stars," said Mulligan. "You should take much pride in your corps and in this birthday. And it's not only in war times, but it is in the everyday care of our patients. I salute you and thank you for what you do each and every day."

The Hospital Corps was established June 17, 1898. Along the years this rating has gone by several titles. Apothecary, hospital steward and pharmacist's mate were all names used before the name hospital corpsman was decided upon in 1948.

The Hospital Corps has grown from the first 25 apothecaries to the more than 30,000 corpsmen delivering world class care to Sailors, Marines and their families at home and abroad, at sea, on the battlefield and at treatment facilities worldwide.

Currently, there are 873 corpsmen serving at Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton and its outlying branch medical clinics.

Also during the event, the Wings of Hope painting was unveiled. The painting, which shows a Navy corpsman coming to the aid of a Marine, originally hung at the previous hospital since 2001. It was reframed to match the decor of the current hospital and now hangs in the pastoral care lobby.

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