FORT LIBERTY, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES –
FORT LIBERTY, N.C. - A renowned military hospital’s namesake honors a young medic’s life lost in battle by providing high-quality care to patients and training the next generation of health care professionals.
Womack Army Medical Center here is named for courageous Korean War Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Pfc. Bryant Homer Womack.
Today, the hospital carries his legacy through its world-class care for the largest U.S. Army population in the world and having a comprehensive graduate medical education program.
A native of Mill Spring, North Carolina, Womack was drafted in 1950 at age 19 into the peacetime U.S. Army. He was sent almost immediately to South Korea, and was serving with the medical company of the 14th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, when the North Koreans invaded on June 25, 1950.
Womack’s Medal of Honor citation reads that on March 12, 1952, Womack was part of a combat night patrol overwhelmed by artillery fire from a large enemy force near Sokso-ri. He was the only one in his unit with medical training.
While under massive artillery fire, Womack immediately went to the aid of his injured patrol, exposing himself to “a devastating hail of enemy fire, during which he was seriously wounded,” his citation reads.
His situation worsened, but Womack kept on tending to the wounded. “Refusing medical aid for himself, he continued moving among his comrades to administer aid. While he was aiding one man, he was again struck by enemy mortar fire, this time suffering the loss of his right arm.”
Womack “knew the consequences should immediate aid not be administered,” but he “insisted that all efforts be made for the benefit of others that were wounded,” the citation reads. “Although unable to perform the task himself, he remained on the scene and directed others in first-aid techniques.”
Womack was “the last man to withdraw,” and he stayed on his feet “until he collapsed from loss of blood, and died a few minutes later while being carried by his comrades.”
For his “conspicuous gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in action against the enemy,” Womack was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, on Jan. 7, 1953, at a Pentagon ceremony attended by his family.
Womack also received a Purple Heart, the Combat Medical Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, according to the American Battle Monuments Commission.
Honoring this medic’s ultimate sacrifice to save his wounded soldiers, the U.S. Army dedicated its then-recently completed Army Community Hospital at then-Fort Bragg in Womack’s name on Aug. 30, 1958. Eventually, the facility became known as Womack Army Medical Center.
The facility moved to a new location in 2000, and Womack’s sister, Rachel Elliott, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony. She said her brother would be proud that his name is still associated with the medical profession. “He enjoyed being a medic and saving people's lives, helping the wounded and the sick," said Elliott.
In addition to Womack, seven other military medical troops received the Medal of Honor for their valor in the Korean War.
Womack Now a Top U.S. Military Hospital with a Grade ‘A’ Rating
Today, Womack is one of 15 military hospitals that received an “A” Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade in the fall of 2024. Womack also received a Leapfrog “A” rating in the spring of 2024. Womack is a Joint Commission-certified facility.
Leapfrog is a national watchdog nonprofit that monitors more than 30 health care safety performance measures, reflecting medical errors, accidents, injuries, and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent patient harm. This enables transparent reporting for all hospitals as they publicly report their progress via a letter grade. Womack’s performance on these Leapfrog measures is available on the latest Womack report.
The medical center also received the Army Superior Unit Award last month for its outstanding meritorious service in support of the COVID-19 response from March 1, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021.
The state-of-the-art military medical facility is a 6-story, 93-bed inpatient Trauma Level III high-acuity/high-volume 24-hour emergency and surgical hospital, with wide-ranging medical services for wounded warriors and the surrounding community. These services also include a blood donation program that’s improved outcomes for Womack’s most critical patients.
A Day in the Life at Womack
Womack cares for the largest patient population in the U.S. Army, at around 200,000 TRICARE beneficiaries. Fort Liberty is the largest U.S. Army installation in the world, home to nearly 10% of the service’s active component forces.
Fort Liberty is home to the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army Reserve Command, and the Army's elite parachute team, the Golden Knights.
Womack medical personnel provide a broad range of care to these active duty service members and beneficiaries, such as:
• Clinics providing care for 2,730 beneficiaries daily on average
• Emergency room averaging 215 face-to-face encounters
• Pharmacy scripts filling on a daily average total 4,391
• Newborn deliveries averaging six per day
• Dental care patient encounters averaging 1,407 a day
Womack also features a comprehensive teaching hospital that offers five residency training programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. It supports an additional 19 graduate programs.
During a 2015 ceremony honoring its namesake, the medical center’s then-chief of staff spoke of [Pfc.] Womack as a “man of humble means faced with extraordinary circumstances … and asked that everyone leave the ceremony thinking of three points inspired by the life of the hospital's namesake—show respect, be inspired and make a choice. We are who we choose to be."