 President Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Tower on Armistice Day, November 11, 1940.The original Medical Center was composed of the Naval Hospital, designed to hold 1,200 beds, and the Naval Medical School, the Naval Dental School (now the National Naval Dental Center) and the Naval Medical Research Institute.In 1945, at the end of World War II, temporary buildings were added to accommodate up to 2,464 wounded American sailors and marines.