Today the USO of Metropolitan Washington hosted a special concert featuring Grammy award-winning and platinum selling rock band The Doobie Brothers for hundreds of service members and their families. This unique USO concert was a salute to Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s 102-year tradition of service and commemorates the facility’s transition to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.The Doobie Brothers are long-time supporters of troops and military families, having entertained and visited service men and women across East Asia and the Pacific. Additionally, the band has donated and raised more than $2.5 million dollars in support of service heroes. The last 12 months marked a breakthrough year for the band, with the release of “World Gone Crazy” and the exclusive debut of their video “Far From Home” on USO.org.

The USO of Metropolitan Washington (USO-Metro) has managed programs and services to support military medical facilities in the National Capitol Region since 1941. With Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, USO-Metro expanded its hospital services programming to support the growing number of service members and their families who are recovering and receiving treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, National Naval Medical Center, and Warrior Transition Units at Fort Meade, Fort Belvoir and the Hunter Holmes McGuire Richmond VAMC.

USO-Metro supports these military heroes and their families through programs including celebrity handshake tours, emergency food and housing assistances, on-site concerts by well-known entertainers, excursions, as well as therapeutic and adaptive activities. Over the years, USO-Metro has continued to celebrate Bob Hope’s spirit by providing USO Shows and celebrity visits all year long to the patients and family members recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Concerts have included Jimmy Buffet, The Beach Boys, Wynonna Judd, Ryan Cabrera & Josh Kelley, Gary Sinise & the Lt. Dan Band, Darryl Worley, Kathy Griffin and Saving Abel.

In the coming weeks Walter Reed will relocate to National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda where the two facilities will join together to become Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. As part of US’s Operation Enduring Care, one of two USO Wounded Warrior and Family centers will be built at this location and the other will be located at Fort Belvoir. These USO centers will be a place where wounded warriors can heal and receive support, along with their families. More than a traditional USO center, the buildings at WRNMMC and Fort Belvoir, are the largest initiative undertaken by the USO since its inception in 1941. By bringing together a family kitchen, children’s play spaces, recreational areas such as movie theaters and golf simulators, classrooms and a learning center, healing gardens, a laundry, and a business center — expressly for wounded warriors and their families — under one roof, the USO at WRNMMC and Fort Belvoir will become a home away from home for wounded warriors and their families.

The event featured guest speakers including General Peter Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army; Major General Carla Hawley-Bowland, Commanding General of the Northern Regional Medical Command and Walter Reed Army Medical Center; and Elaine Rogers, president of the USO of Metropolitan Washington. Concert funds were provided by the USO, supported by its worldwide strategic partners. Additional, in-kind support was provided by Outback Steakhouse, Häagen-Dazs Shoppe, Giant Food, The Louis Berger Group and the Ranger Group.

Photos and additional information can be found and downloaded HERE

About USO of Metropolitan WashingtonThe USO of Metropolitan Washington is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization chartered by Congress and dedicated to “Serving those who serve, and their families” in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Northern Virginia. It is through the generous financial support of individuals and organizations in the local community that USO-Metro is able to fulfill its mission. With the help of nearly 5,000 devoted volunteers, USO-Metro provides programs and services for active duty service members and their families at area military hospitals; through its Mobile USO program; at five USO Centers; four USO airport lounges and through Operation USO Care Package. For more information please visit www.usometro.org.

About the USO

The USO lifts the spirits of America’s troops and their families millions of times each year at hundreds of places worldwide. We provide a touch of home through centers at airports and military bases, top-quality entertainment and innovative programs and services. We also provide critical support to those who need us most, including forward-deployed troops and their families, wounded warriors and their families and the families of the fallen.

The USO is a private, nonprofit organization, not a government agency. We rely on the generosity of our volunteers and donors. In addition to individual donors and other corporate sponsors, the USO is supported by Worldwide Strategic Partners: American Airlines, AT&T Inc., BAE Systems, The Boeing Company, Clear Channel Communications, The Coca-Cola Company, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft Corporation, Northrop Grumman Corporation, Procter & Gamble and TriWest Healthcare Alliance. We are also supported through the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign (CFC-11381). To join us in this patriotic mission and to learn more about the USO, please visit www.uso.org.