I just filed my story about a group of Air Force reservists from the 446th Airlift Wing at McChord returning from a deployment to Dover Air Force Base, where they worked in the mortuary section. Not sure when the story will run, but in the meantime, I've posted a photo gallery here.

Check it out when you get a chance. None are McChord guys (they didn't bring cameras with them to work), but it offers a rare glimpse behind the scenes.

Madigan Army Medical Center opened an eight-bed specialty care unit Wednesday, the next step of a $1 million project to reduce referrals to outside hospitals and time spent in intensive care units.

Te new eight-bed unit contains a pediatric intensive care unit and an adult progressive care unit. The pediatric ICU is designed to provide critical-care services to children. The progressive care unit is for adults who require critical-care nursing but don’t quite need a stay in an intensive care unit because their injury or illness has stabilized.

The cost to get the unit started – including new equipment, facility renovations and additional staff – cost almost $1 million. It’s expected to treat several hundred patients each year.

A monument memorializing Medal of Honor winners from Pierce County will be dedicated during a Memorial Day observance at Tacoma’s War Memorial Park on Saturday.

The Tacoma Historical Society and American Legion are co-hosting the event, which begins at 2 p.m. at the park near the intersection of 6th Avenue and MacArthur Street.

Eight Pierce County residents have received the Medal of Honor, all but one from service in World War II, according to a release from the Historical Society. The eighth name, Maj. Patrick H. Brady, was honored for actions in the Vietnam War.