The bullet that killed President Lincoln is one of many cool items on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine. (NMHM photo)
The National Museum of Health and Medicine at Walter Reed Army Medical Center is soon to close as it prepares for its move to Silver Spring, Md.
Perhaps you missed this museum as you toured Washington, D.C.’s famed Smithsonians. And granted, the “Evolution of the Microscope” exhibit doesn’t rate high on our excite-o-meter. But this museum has some pretty cool national and military history that’s worth checking out. Among them:
Abraham Lincoln: The Final Casualty of the War. This exhibition includes items associated with Lincoln’s last hours and the physicians who cared for him – and is anchored by .44 caliber bullet that killed our 16th president.
Trauma Bay II, Balad, Iraq. This new exhibit offers a rare view inside a former Air Force tent hospital where thousands of soldiers were treated during the Iraq War.
RESOLVED. Here you’ll see the underlying forensic sciences that have evolved to fulfill the nation’s commitment to identify and commemorate our fallen service members”
“Battlefield Surgery 101: From the Civil War to Vietnam” drawn exclusively from the museum’s historical archives and historical collections, the exhibit highlights the evolution of military surgical activities over the past 140 years. It includes photographs, artifacts and even the amputated leg of a Civil War general.
The museum will close on April 3 and remain closed throughout the summer as it moves to the Forest Glen Annex. Check it out while you can!
