This is the tale of two namesake buildings.

One is the sprawling army hospital, where thousands of wounded soldiers returning from war zones go to receive medical care. The other is a 2,100-student middle school in North Hollywood, Calif., part of the vast Los Angeles Unified School District.

Both carry the name Walter Reed, but only one got prime-time exposure during Senator John McCain’s speech at the Republican National Convention Thursday night.

Can you guess which one?

It turned out to be a banner night for the Southern California junior high, known for its gifted and talented program. A photograph of the school appeared for several minutes on the giant video screen behind Senator McCain as he delivered one of the most important speeches of his career. Its lawn provided a glaring green backdrop that didn’t exactly flatter Mr. McCain when the screen turned a bright green without any buildings in the background — at least to television viewers.



The image made the rounds in the blogosphere overnight and by Friday the consensus on many left-leaning sites was that the the Republicans committed an act of sloppy stagecraft, substituting Walter Reed, the school, for Walter Reed, the medical center.

Not so, according to campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds, who said the campaign intended to showcase “images of Americana” during the Arizona senator’s remarks.

“The changing image-screen was linked to the American thematics of the speech and the public school was simply part of it,” Mr. Bounds said, adding that during the speech, Mr. McCain “called for public education reforms that empower parents and students before bureaucrats and labor unions.”

Though using an image of the medial center that had been caught up in a controversy over its treatment of Iraq war veterans might have been an unusual choice of a backstory for the campaign, liberal groups lost no time in seizing on the incident to make a political point.

The veterans group, Americans United for Change, announced a press conference outside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center on Saturday “to remind John McCain where it is” and to “call McCain out for turning his back on America’s veterans.”

“It’s a big mistake, and it’s something that John McCain should take ownership of,” said John Heaner, a California Democratic Party operative and the parent of twin daughters who attend Walter Reed.

Mr. Heaner spent part of the day standing outside the school watching as a parade of reporters and television crews descended on campus. “I want him to admit the mistake and if it’s not a mistake, he should apologize for using my child’s school for partisan purposes,” he said.

Interest has been so great that principal Donna Tobin was compelled to issue an official statement on school’s Web site.

“It has been brought to the school’s attention that a picture of the front of our school, Walter Reed Middle School, was used as a backdrop at the Republican National Convention,” Ms. Tobin wrote. “Permission to use the front of our school for the Republican National Convention was not given by our school nor is the use of our school’s picture an endorsement of any political party or view.” (And just for emphasis, she glossed the word “not” in bold type.)

It’s not the first time the school has landed in the national spotlight. Walter Reed’s honors program was the inspiration for the television series “Head of the Class,” and the campus has been used as a set for other films and TV shows.

Despite the campaign’s explanation, Mr. Heaner said he remained convinced that Thursday night’s spectacle was a “gaffe of the first order.” And he noted that it was an inauspicious start to a school year that brought the promise of spelling and geography bees, but he hoped, no more political drama. An apology, Mr. Heaner repeated, was in order.

“Have John McCain call my daughters and they can work it out,” he said.