(as found in Wikipedia just because they write it so much better than I possibly could)

Due to the vast array of foreign, domestic and shipboard duty stations in which hospital corpsman are called to serve as well as the fact that the United States Marine Corps has no medical personnel of their own, the Hospital Corps is anecdotally reported to be the largest rating in the United States Navy. That is, the duty classification held by more United States naval personnel than any other. The basic Hospital Corpsman training is one of the Navy's "A" or primary training schools. The Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) for a hospital corpsman who has attended no "C" school is 0000 called "quad-zero". NEC is analogous to MOS in the United States Army and Marine Corps, or AFSC in the Air Force. A "C" school is a secondary, usually longer, specialized training. In the case of hospital corpsmen, this training is to prepare the sailor for a specialized role, such as Medical Laboratory Technician, Radiology Technician, Aviation/Aerospace Medicine Specialist, etc. The day to day duties of a Hospital Corpsman depends largely on what "C" schools he/she has attended and to what sort of unit he/she has been assigned. All Navy rates have "A" and "C" schools and respective NEC codes. Of note is Field Medical Service School (FMSS), with locations at Camp Pendleton and Camp Lejeune, where sailors bound for service with United States Marine Corps operating forces attend to earn the NEC 8404, Field Medical Service Technician. This is specialized training emphasizing physical conditioning, small arms familiarity, and the fundamentals of Marine Corps life to make up for the lack of traditional field training that Corpsmen receive at Navy boot camp. As of 2005, this course is seven weeks long. There are primary NECs, and secondary NECs. For example, a Corpsman could hold the 0000 (General Duty Corpsman) NEC as his primary, while the 8404 (Field Medical Technician) would be his secondary NEC. Be they assigned to hospital ships, reservist installations, recruiter offices, Marine Corps combat units or functioning as Navy SEALs, the rating of Hospital Corpsman is the most decorated in the United States Navy with 22 Medals of Honor, 174 Navy Crosses, 31 Distinguished Service Medals, 943 Silver Stars, and 1553 Bronze Stars. [2] There have been 14 naval vessels that have been named after Hospital Corpsmen. Assignment to Navy facilities and ships is referred to going "Blueside" and serving with Marines is considered going "Greenside." A common description of the 8404 Corpsmen during the late 60's and early 70's was, "A long haired, bearded sailor who would go through the very gates of Hell to tend to a wounded Marine." The origin of this phrase can be traced to a book from the late 70's written by Gene Duncan, Major, USMC(ret), the book is entitled "Green Side Out".

Ships named after Hospital Corpsman (20)

USS Caron (DD-970), USS David R. Ray (DD-971) ,USS Valdez (FF-1096) ,USS Benfold (DDG-65), USS De Wert (FFG-45) ,USS Francis Hammond (FF-1067)USS Daniel A Joy (DE 585) , USS Don O Woods (APD-118), USS Durant (DER-389)*Also sailed as USCGC Durant , USS Frament (APD-77) ,USS Jobb (DE-707)USS Liddle (DE-206), USS Thaddeus Parker (DE-369), USS Walter C. Wann (DE-412), USS Henry W. Tucker (DD-875), USS Jack Williams (FFG-24) , USS John Willis (DE-1027) , USS Lester (DE-1022), USS Halyburton (FFG-40) ,USS Litchfield (AG-95)

Decorations awarded to Hospital Corpsman

Corpsman who recieved the Medal of Honor