Bedford VA ~ Ready to Celebrate 90 Years of Service to Veterans on Saturday, July 14

The National Lancers Cavalry will participate in the Bedford VA’s 90th-Anniversary celebration opening parade and also offer a program/demonstration at 1:30 pm – Courtesy image (c) 2018 all rights reserved

Compiled by The Bedford Citizen

Image (c) Bedford VA Medical Center, 2018 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image

The Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital will celebrate its 90-year history of serving the nation’s Veterans at the Bedford VA on Saturday, July 14, from 10 am until 2:30 pm at 200 Springs Road, Bedford.

The celebration will honor the Veterans the Bedford VA has served since it began in 1928, along with the partnerships, such as with the Town of Bedford, Veterans service organizations, and area teaching hospitals, that make the Bedford VA’s work possible.

About the 90th Anniversary Celebration

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The festivities will begin at 10 am with a Salute Parade on the VA grounds. Multiple color guards, marching units, musicians, floats, antique cars, and the National Lancers Cavalry are expected to participate.

An 11 am  Assumption of Duty ceremony in the Oval will install Joan Clifford, DNP, as the Bedford VA’s new Director. Click this link to learn more about Dr. Clifford.

The ceremony will include remarks by Senator Michael Barrett; Don Corey, US Navy Veteran and president of Bedford Historical Society; Francisco Ureña, US Marine Veteran, and Massachusetts Secretary of Veterans’ Services; Colonel Roman Hund, 66th Air Base Group Commander, Hanscom Air Force Base; Barrett Franklin, MC, CCE, Acting Network Director, VA New England Healthcare System; and Dr. Clifford.

The programs will end with performances by the United States Navy Rock Band well as Barbershop Quartets and a demonstration by the horses and riders of the National Lancers Calvary.

Researchers will present overviews of the innovative work that is done at the Bedford VA in collaboration with major teaching hospitals in the Boston area.

About Bedford’s VA Medical Center

The first patients, Veterans of the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I were transferred to Bedford from VA facilities in West Roxbury and Brockton on July 17, 1928. The hospital was a self-sufficient community offering a ‘serene environment’ for patient care. The patient census rose to 1,800 after the end of World War II.

The hospital’s name was changed from the Bedford VA to the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital on its 50th birthday by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. Edith Nourse Rogers was a local congresswoman and partisan for Veterans. Click this link to learn more about Edith Nourse Rogers.

Today the Bedford VA is a teaching hospital offering innovative mental health and long-term care services along with comprehensive outpatient care to Veterans from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War as well as post-9/11 conflicts and those who have served during peacetime.

As was the case when Bedford VA opened in 1928, volunteers and Veteran service organizations partner with the hospital. Learn how you can volunteer to work with our Veterans at www.Bedford.VA.gov/giving.

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