July 3, 2008 Bush breaks ground on Walter Reed replacement Play video

(NECN: Bethesda, Maryland) - President Bush was on hand for the ground breaking ceremony for the new Walter Reed National Medical Center today.

He said in a few years "the current campus at Walter Reed will close. Many of the services will be relocated to the new complex, here on the grounds at Bethesda."

Verbatim:

"In many fields you are far ahead of civilian medicine. And when Bethesda and Walter Reed merge into one campus across from the National Institutes of Health, this will be the site of many more promising breakthroughs that will benefit not only our troops, but all mankind.

This new medical center will be a place of compassion. At Bethesda and Walter Reed, volunteers organize holiday celebration, poker nights and field trips. They distribute care packages from thousands of Americans who want to show their gratitude for our troops."