On the day before Americans celebrate the nation’s birthday, Secretary of State Reed visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord Tuesday to attend the change of command ceremony in which the base’s outgoing commander, Lt. Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, was replaced by Lt. Gen. Robert B. Brown.

After the ceremony, Reed had this photo taken with two Medal of Honor recipients, Sgt. 1st Class Leroy A. Petry (left), who is still stationed at JBLM after losing his right hand to an exploding grenade, and retired Lt. Col. Bruce P. Crandall, a helicopter pilot who flew more than 900 combat missions by the end of the Vietnam War.