SAN DIEGO — History was made in La Jolla Monday morning during a ceremony to celebrate the renaming of the VA Medical Center as well as to celebrate the healthcare system’s 50th anniversary.
The VA Medical Center there will now be known as the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. It's located at 3350 La Jolla Village Drive, San Diego, CA.
This is the first VA facility named in honor of a Latina veteran, and the third named for a female veteran.
On March 14, President Joe Biden signed into law H.R. 3665, designating the VA San Diego Medical Center as the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Public Law No. 117-98).
Jennifer Moreno, a San Diego native and Army nurse, was deployed as part of a special operations Cultural Support Team and gave her life during combat operations in Afghanistan. During a raid on October 6, 2013, at a compound thought to have a high-value military target, one of the residents detonated an improvised explosive device and wounded several of Moreno’s team members. Moreno rushed to provide medical aid and was killed when another IED was detonated.
Moreno is buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery on Point Loma. For her bravery, she was awarded the Bronze Star with a “V” device for valor and promoted posthumously to Captain.
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