Tripler Army Medical Center started as Tripler Hospital within Fort Shafter on the island of O'ahu, Hawai'i, in 1907. In 1920 it was named after Civil War medic Brigadier General Charles Stuart Tripler. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the U.S. entering World War II, the necessity of a bigger hospital facility was clear.


Lieutenant General Robert C. Richardson Jr., the Military Governor of the Territory of Hawaii during WWI, commissioned a New York based architect firm was hired to create a "place of solace" for soldiers to recuperate. Pink coral was chosen, reportedly by Richardson himself, and modeled after the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki. The new Tripler AMC was completed in 1948. Due to its unique color and location on Moanalua Ridge, Tripler can be seen from all over the Honolulu District.


Tripler is the largest Army medical facility in the Asian and Pacific Rim. It serves a very large portion of its surrounding area, including Hawaii, Japan, Guam, American Samoa, and many Pacific Island Nations.