Audio
Pamela Gayheart-Walston
Transcript
Katie: Okay. Hello, my name is Katie Holt, and I work with Golden Gate National Recreation Area. I am speaking with Pamela Gayheart-Walsten over the phone, and we are conducting an interview for our oral history program. Today is November 7th, 2019. Pam, thank you for taking time out of your day to conduct this interview. [00:00:30] You understand that you're being recorded for the purpose of creating original research information?
Pamela: Yes.
Katie: Okay. So let's just get started with where you were born and where you grew up.
Pamela: [00:01:00] Okay. I was born in Kaiserslautern in Germany. I was adopted by an Army family. And then, I became a nationalist citizen when I was nine in Oklahoma, outside of Fort Sill, Oklahoma. My dad's retired Army, so I grew up as an Army kid. So I lived wherever my dad was stationed, so I don't really have what you call a hometown.
Katie: [00:01:30] Okay. Was it just you? Did you have any siblings?
Pamela: They also adopted my brother and my sister. We're all from different families.
Katie: Okay. And what were their names?
Pamela: Randy and Debbie.
Katie: Okay. So when did you attend nursing school? When did you decide to go to nursing school?
Pamela: [00:02:00] When I got into the Army, because that's where I did my nursing school, was at Presidio in San Francisco. So I joined the Army in '72 and signed up for nursing school. And then, I went to basic training in Fort McClellan, Alabama. And then, I went from there to AIP training at Fort Sam in San Antonio, Texas. And then after that, I went to nursing school at Presidio of San Francisco.
Katie: [00:02:30] Okay. Once you got into the Army, was nursing school pretty much always what you pictured yourself doing?
Pamela: Yes. Yes, it was at the time. I did end up changing careers when I got out, but yeah, that's what I signed up for. Yes.
Katie: Okay. Can you give me a brief overview of your medical training while you were on the Presidio?
Pamela: [00:03:00] Well, nursing school, it's called Clinical Specialist School. And it was a building... I'm trying to think. We could walk to it. The women were in the barracks that were separate from the guys for nursing school, so all of the women that were in nursing school was in one set of barracks. And then, they had another set of barracks for anybody else, women that were medical. And then, the guys that were in the nursing program also had a separate set of barracks. And then, we took classes. They were Monday through Friday all day, and we were off on the weekends. And then we rotated through the hospital. I can't remember what week we were in our monthly reel when we started rotations, but we had rotations through medical, pediatrics, ICU, psych ward which was interesting. And then, the patients were either military or spouses of military or some of them are actually retirees that were in the hospital.
Katie: Okay. Did you go through training with the men, or was the schooling separated as well?
Pamela: [00:04:30] For basic training and AIT, we were separated in the classes. But for nursing school, we were all together.
Katie: Okay. And then, did you end up specializing in a specific area, or assigned a specific ward or job?
Pamela: [00:05:00] Actually, when I finished nursing school, I was stationed over in South Korea. I was stationed at the 121 evac hospital in Seoul, and I started on the medical floor in Seoul, and then I went to the emergency room. So I was mostly trauma.
Katie: [00:05:30] Okay. And then, do you remember what years that was when you went to Korea?
Pamela: [00:06:00] Yes. Actually, I was in basic training from December '72 to February '73 because they're eight weeks. And then, I was AIT in Fort Sam. Because I got to San Francisco in May, so somewhere in there, it was eight weeks at Fort Sam. And then I was in San Francisco in May, and that was from '73 to May of '74. And then from May of '74 to May of '75, I was in South Korea.
Katie: [00:06:30] Okay. What was the general background of the other nurses that attended school with you? Or even, did any of your classmates go with you to South Korea?
Pamela: [00:07:00] Yes. Actually, there was. There was some of us that were in basic training, AIT training, nursing school together, and in South Korea together. But the backgrounds for the students, men or women, pretty much varied quite a bit. Some of us were like E3, and some of them were E5, higher because they wanted to go through Clinical Specialist School. So it really varied quite a bit. It was an equal amount of women and men. That much, I do remember. It was pretty rounded, actually.
Katie: Oh, okay. Did it make it easier to go over to South Korea, going with people that you had gone to school and clinical with?
Pamela: Yes. Yes, it was.
Katie: [00:07:30] Okay, let's see. And then... Oh, go ahead.
Pamela: So the group of women that went to South Korea at the time in '74 were the first group of enlisted women to ever go to South Korea. The only women they had over there were RNs that were officers.
Katie: [00:08:00] Oh, wow. Okay.
Pamela: Yes. And I was one of the first five that got there.
Katie: Okay, wow. Did that affect your job at all when you got there, that y'all were the first group of women over there?
Pamela: [00:08:30] Yeah. We were pretty tight, actually. As more women came over, we were all housed in the same building, the same barracks. So I'd say we were all pretty tight. And the medical people that were stationed at the hospital had a different set of barracks than the women that were stationed that were either in personnel or finance or military police or something like that. They were separate. We were in separate barracks. They kept the medical separate from everyone else because had really weird shifts, so I think that was part of it. Yeah.
Katie: [00:09:00] Mm-hmm. Yeah. So what kind of shifts were typical?
Pamela: [00:09:30] Back in that time in nursing, the shifts were eight-hour shifts. They were from 7 to 3, 3 to 11, and 11 to 7. And I mostly worked the night shift on the floor. And then when I started working down in the ER, I mostly worked evenings or nights. Here's a little interesting note about the military at that time. Did not have physicians assigned to the ER. So now you have emergency room physicians. We didn't have that back then.
Katie: Oh, okay. So who would be the typical role?
Pamela: [00:10:00] It was called the physician on duty, and they would be assigned throughout... They would get a 24-hour rotation. So we could have a cardiologist, we could have a dermatologist, we could have any physician that was stationed in the hospital had to pull a POD, physician on duty. So the ER was covered by corpsman, one nurse like me, and then on the evening and night shifts, it was always going to be... There was no RN, so it was one LPN, a corpsman, and then we had an NCO. He was only there during the day. And then, we would have one Korean corpsman in the ER.
Katie: Okay. And just to clarify, was this at Letterman Hospital or this was over...
Pamela: Over in Korea, yeah. I never actually worked other than rotations.
Katie: Okay. At Letterman?
Pamela: [00:11:00] At Letterman, yes.
Katie: Okay. So you pretty much were really just at Letterman Hospital for your clinical school?
Pamela: Training. Yes, yes.
Katie: [00:11:30] Okay, let's see. So while you were at Letterman Hospital, did you have a specific daily routine?
Pamela: Yes. Yeah, we had to get up and go to classes every day. That was five days a week. And then sometimes those classes later on became rotation, but they were actually instruction. Learning about medicine and nursing and all of this kind of stuff, so we were in school. That's what it was. Yeah, we were in school.
Katie: [00:12:00] Oh, okay. I know you had mentioned a little bit before. So you lived on post for about a year?
Pamela: Yes.
Katie: And then, could you just describe the barracks again? Like setup and their proximity, I guess, to the hospital?
Pamela: [00:12:30] Well, they were a pretty good walk from the hospital. They were not close to the hospital. The guys' barracks were closer to the hospital than ours was. So we would typically walk to school every day. And we had to wear... I think that picture that I sent shows us in these white nurses' uniforms. That's what we wore. Yeah. White uniforms, a hat while we were outside, girls wore regular hose and black shoes. Yeah, that was pretty funny. Yeah. But yeah, that's what we did because we were trainees. It didn't matter what your rank was. You all wore the same.
Katie: Okay. Okay. So then when you went over to South Korea, I'm assuming the uniforms changed. Was there rank differentiation over there?
Pamela: [00:13:30] No. We still wore the white dresses, and then we were allowed to wear white hose and white nursing shoes. But if you didn't wear the white nursing shoes, then you had to wear regular hose and black shoes. They're all Army issued except for the hose, obviously. But yeah. Yeah.
Katie: Okay. And you said that you worked mostly trauma. Did that uniform get in the way at all, or was that even a thought in your mind?
Pamela: [00:14:00] It got in the way when you were riding in the back of an ambulance or in the helicopter. Yeah, it did. But one of the things I can say about San Francisco that I got to see before classes started, I almost forgot about this. So you know the area on the post that they called Crissy Field?
Katie: Yes, ma'am.
Pamela: [00:14:30] Okay. So actually, they had planes and helicopters there. That's what it was. It was an airport, basically. So while I was waiting for classes to start, because I was considered a corpsman when I got out. After I finished AIT in San Antonio, I was considered a corpsman. So they would take the helicopters out and go around the bay. They were basically patrolling the bay in the helicopters. So they wanted a corpsman to be on that helicopter. So that's what I did. It was kind of neat, actually. So I got to fly around in a heli around San Francisco and the Bay.
Katie: And how long did you do that for before school started?
Pamela: [00:15:30] Probably about maybe two or three months off and on. And then, they had to go take a plane to Palm Springs and bring one back. So I rode on that plane. I was a passenger on that plane. So we flew to Palm Springs to take that plane, and we were supposed to fly another one back to Crissy Field. And the fog came in. It was too foggy so we couldn't fly it back. So we rode in a Jeep all the way back to the Presidio in the fog. Yeah, that was fun. Yeah. I think I got back to the barracks at like 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. But yeah. Yeah.
Katie: Was there anything to do for entertainment on the post while you were there?
Pamela: [00:16:30] Yeah, our favorite spot, which was the NCO Club which is the one across from the church. That was where we went. And they had music and dancing, and they'd have bands sometimes because there was a stage there. And then, the women's bathroom was still the way it was when I was there in '96 in the NCO Club. But then they changed that. I got to get some water here. So they changed that. But what it looked like, it was painted pink, the bathroom, and they had a lounge area. And you walk in and it was a little lounge area, which is where the pink chandelier was. And then the bathroom stalls were a little bit around the corner. So that's the way it used to look in there. And that's where we would hang out. And then, the barracks was right there behind the old fire station, which is still there.
[00:18:00] That's where the barracks were. And there was a bus that actually came there, and we could take the bus and go into San Francisco, downtown and all over. Everywhere. So it was really easy to get around there because a lot of us didn't have cars. Well, we just didn't have cars. So we took the bus everywhere. And then we'd go down to Chinatown, Ghirardelli Square, Nob Hill. That's mostly what we did on the weekends. Some people just stayed back. A bunch of us actually would just go out and just explore the area, and we had a lot of fun doing that. I got a lot of pictures of San Francisco back then. Trolley cars, all that. I even drove down the Crookedest Street.
Katie: Oh, Lombard Street?
Pamela: [00:19:00] Yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. And we walked from the bottom of the hill where the trolley is all the way up to the top of Nob Hill. And then San Francisco, sometimes the streets were so steep. I don't know if they still have them. They probably do. They actually had steps.
Katie: Oh, yeah.
Pamela: [00:19:30] Yeah. So yeah, I went all over San Francisco. A bunch of us would go. Every weekend, we were out going places. Been to the Fairmont, the Mark Hopkins Hotel, the Top of the Mark. Because we were in school every day, five days a week. And then the Mess Hall actually, the one that we went to was at the hospital. And the food was exceptional, and it was really good. And then we'd go out to Golden Gate Park and play flag football, and then go back to the hospital and have brunch because they serve brunch there as well. My husband has decided to get the leaf blower out upstairs. And let's see, what else? Chinatown was real popular. Haight-Ashbury obviously was very popular, and I've been there a few times. And Seal Rocks and Coit Tower, and walked across the Golden Gate Bridge from the barracks with one of my friends that wasn't particularly smart. It was a long walk. So you can imagine... You see where the fire station is?
Katie: Mm-hmm.
Pamela: [00:20:30] Okay. Before it is now, there was a road from there that went all the way down to Fort Scott. And you could walk from there all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge and go across. Or you could walk from the barracks, which is there. You know there's a restaurant there where the fire station is?
Katie: Mm-hmm. Yes.
Pamela: [00:21:00] Okay. And you could see the Golden Gate Bridge from that restaurant, and you could see the Golden Gate Bridge from our barracks. I do have some pictures of that. I'm not sure if I could... But I do have some pictures of the back part of the barracks where our picnic area was. It had a little picnic area back there. And then the parade field, which is where we also played basketball and stuff or whatever we wanted to play, was right between the two barracks. That's in the inside, and then the barracks are on the other sides of the cement area.
Katie: [00:21:30] Mm-hmm. Did you stay in contact with any of your school mates or coworkers?
Pamela: Yes. Yes. I still do, actually. One of the ones I'm still in touch with was the one that got married in the church there by the NCO Club.
Katie: Oh, right. Okay.
Pamela: Yes. Oh, yes.
Katie: [00:22:00] Very good. Let's see. And then, could you tell me a little bit about your career following Letterman and South Korea when you got back?
Pamela: [00:22:30] When I got back from South Korea, I was stationed in Fort Lee, Virginia. And then I went temporary duty to Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, which was about maybe a half an hour from Quantico. So I was stationed up there. It's for the reserve units to come for summer training, so it was real small. It was just a clinic, and they didn't have barracks for the women on that post, so they had a trailer in the back. And there was three girls there. We were the only enlisted women in that whole area at Fort A.P. Hill. It was pretty isolated, but it's a reserve. They have a lot of reserve. And then I got discharged from Fort Lee.
Katie: Okay. And what year was that, that you...
Pamela: [00:23:00] December '75. Yeah.
Katie: Okay. And then, I guess backtracking just a little bit. Influences in joining the Army. Would you say that that came from your family and your father?
Pamela: [00:23:30] Yes. Yeah, it definitely was. And it was also a way for me to go to nursing school, because they just didn't have the money to send us to college. So I signed up so I could go to nursing school.
Katie: Mm-hmm. And then, did you have anything stand out or any events that stood out while you were at school at Letterman?
Pamela: [00:24:00] There's quite a few, actually. Some of them I can't say, but there was a couple of things that really stood out. One of them was that Bob Hope was there for Christmas at Letterman.
Katie: Oh, wow.
Pamela: [00:24:30] Yeah, he was there. The other one was that the movie M*A*S*H had just come out, and they didn't want to show it in the theater. The main theater, the big one, was actually at the hospital. So, the hospital was also connected to Letterman Army Research Institute. So, we got some training on how to suture and all that kind of stuff. We did things as a nurse on the military that you can't do as a civilian. So, we actually had to learn pretty hardcore medicine like how to dig up a tree and trenches and all that kind of stuff. We had to be able to do that. But he was there, and then they showed the movie.
[00:25:00] There was a big protest of them not showing the movie M*A*S*H. So, they finally conceded to the population because the soldiers were ticked off. So, I got see M*A*S*H in the theater there at Letterman. That was pretty cool. And then, the other thing that really sticks out, which is kind of hard to talk about, is when they started bringing POWs released back from Vietnam. Some of them were actually at Letterman, and we were able to sit down and talk to a few of them. They let us know we could do that, so we did. I just remember doing it. The problem is it was kind of traumatic. They're trying to deal with it and we're trying to deal with it. Because my brother was in Vietnam. But that's one of the other things that really stood out was that. Those three things.
Katie: [00:26:00] Mm-hmm. Did you only talk to the POWs as students, or did you actually treat any of them while you were in school?
Pamela: No. As the students, it was kind of off limits for us, so that's why we got to talk to them. And then, he was my patient. I still remember his name to this day, but have you heard of Lou Gehrig's disease?
Katie: Yes.
Pamela: [00:26:30] ALS. He had ALS, and I took care of him. And he was a really nice guy. He was family. I took care of him, and he did pass away while I was still stationed there. And it was hard.
Katie: Oh, wow.
Pamela: Yeah. It was hard.
Katie: [00:27:00] Yeah. Did you as students at Letterman feel any of the home anti-war movement against Vietnam while you were there?
Pamela: No. Uh-uh. Well, they wouldn't be allowed on the post anyway. But it was an open post, because that's how you got to the Golden Gate Bridge. You had to drive through because the road came through the Presidio, and that's how you got to Golden Gate Bridge.
Katie: [00:27:30] I just didn't know if it was something that was openly spoken about. I know seeing that it's an Army hospital, I didn't know if it was spoken about, about feelings about the Vietnam War or...
Pamela: [00:28:00] Yeah. Yeah, we did. Well, some of my classmates were actually Vietnam vets, and then some of our instructors, the non-commissioned officers that were the same clinical specialists, they were also Vietnam vets. So they were all combat vets. Combat medics, I should say. They were all combat medics. So a lot of our training came from that because they had been there. We didn't have that. We had a couple of officers. I remember one in particular. She was a lieutenant, but most of them were what we call the clinical specialists, the corpsman combat. And yeah, we got a lot of our training from that. Yeah, we would rotate through, like I said, PEs, ICU, psych, medical, labor and delivery. One of the guys that I was stationed with, he was working in labor and delivery, and his wife went into labor. Yeah, that was pretty cool. Yeah, that was pretty good.
Katie: Was there a ward that you particularly found the most interesting learning about or learning in?
Pamela: [00:30:00] I probably would say the psych ward because most of them were soldiers. And you had some in there with PTSD, although they didn’t call it that at the time. One of my classmates was having flashbacks at a party that we were all at, most of us. It was out in the country because we used to go up to Napa Valley and Mount Tam and that kind of stuff. And he started having flashbacks, and he had a rifle. And he was out there. He thought he was back in Vietnam. So, we all had to go into this barn. So, a couple of his friends who also had been in Vietnam too, they had to go and talk him down. But yeah. So yeah, I've seen it.
Katie: Mm-hmm. Did you have anything stand out while you were over in South Korea?
Pamela: [00:31:30] They didn't actually say anything about this until years later, but back in 1974, North Korea had built a tunnel under the DMZ. And when they built the tunnel under the DMZ, there were some South Korean and Army personnel that found the tunnel. So, when they went back to inspect it, the North Koreans had already booby trapped it. So, seven people died when the booby traps exploded. And they've kept that pretty hush, hush. That was the first time a tunnel actually had been found. It was all hands-on deck. All of us had to come into the ER bringing people, but that was the end of that. But yeah, we knew about it. Yeah, we knew about it. And then, there was also an assassination attempt on the leader of South Korea, and they ended up shooting his wife. And we had to go on Red Alert after that happened. So that was one of them. Let's see.
[00:32:30] We don't know who he was. They never told us who he was, but he was in an isolated room on the floor, and he had bodyguards. And he was some high official of some kind under anonymous name, and only one nurse per shift could be... He had to be assigned the same nurse for each shift. We never knew who he was. I thought he was a spy, but he could have been. I don't know. But he was under security, and the guards were armed. Yeah. But he was really nice though. He was really, really nice. Very polite. Yeah, he was very polite. But it's a different world over there, that's for sure. Not as hostile that we know of back then as it is now. But yeah.
Katie: [00:33:00] Mm-hmm. Did you feel like you’re schooling at Letterman well-equipped you once you got over there? Or is it something that you just have to learn as you go?
Pamela: [00:34:00] It was a little bit of both, actually. Yeah. And I learned a lot of it from being in the emergency room from... He was a Vietnam vet. He was an NCO, and so he was a Vietnam vet. And then I worked mostly night shift, and it was me, a corpsman, and an RN. We were it on this floor. It was the medical floor. And it's like a lined U. Down one side, backside, and down the other side, and a nurses' station. But medicine was a little bit different over there. So we would run out of supplies, and we would have to make do with something else. Penicillin was locked up because it was on the black market. Yeah. I told somebody, the nurses, and they went here a little while back. And they went, "Really?" I said, "Yeah." Because STDs were rampant.
[00:35:00] So in the civilian world, it was different because I had a different kind of training and more responsibility than what VLP is depending on what part of the country you live in. So it made a big difference. And because of that, I mostly worked trauma. I worked in coronary care for three years, going back to school, but I mostly worked trauma when I was working part-time and going to undergrad. And it's because of that experience that I was actually able to do that. And that's stayed with me for all these years. You had to think quick. When you're working in a foreign country and an emergency room, and even in the medical floor, you still have to stay quick because it's just different.
Katie: [00:35:30] Mm-hmm. You had mentioned that the Letterman Hospital was also part of a research institute. And did you have any involvement with researching at the institute? I think you had mentioned once about published research for the LAIR?
Pamela: [00:36:30] Gosh, I can't remember. It was a long time ago. I was already out of the service. Because I went on graduate school. So I was at a meeting, and there was some guys that were there that had, but they do have publications from LAIR. You'd have to go back and look, but they do. Only thing we used LAIR for was to learn how to suture and some stuff like that. They were dogs, but they were very extremely well taken care of because they were military dogs. So we had to do that. And the other thing that's really interesting about Letterman is the pet cemetery's still there because there was a big fight about keeping it there, and the people won. So it's still there. It's pretty cool though, too. Because that was another place we used to go to. When we were off, we really didn't spend much time on the post. We left. Yeah. But the theater was there, and I actually worked in that military museum there at the Presidio, the one that's right across from what was called the Bowling Alley?
Katie: [00:37:00] Oh, okay. Was it the Presidio Army Museum?
Pamela: Yes. Yes. I worked in there. Yeah, I volunteered. I did some stuff in there. I helped actually put some of that stuff together in that museum.
Katie: Oh, that's so interesting. The Presidio Army Museum isn't there anymore, but we acquired all their objects and documents and things.
Pamela: [00:37:30] Oh, cool. That's something I would love to see. Because I can't remember the guy's name that I helped. But yeah, I volunteered there. Yeah. It was pretty neat. But yes, I did help put up some of the displays and stuff like that. Archiving, documenting, and all that kind of stuff what was in there. Yes.
Katie: Very good. Well, was there anything else that stood out to you or anything else you want to add, or any people? Other personnel?
Pamela: [00:38:00] I'm trying to think. Well, I don't know if you can say this, but you want to hear a funny story?
Katie: Sure.
Pamela: [00:39:00] Okay. So Burt Reynolds, the big guy. So he was actually a centerfold for the Playgirl Magazine or Cosmopolitan or something. I can't remember. I think it was Cosmopolitan. I think. I can't remember. I'd have to go back and look. But anyway, he was a centerfold for that. So a bunch of us, the lieutenant, little staunch, starchy white uniform that the RNs wore and the hat and all that kind of stuff. So a bunch of us got together and we found the magazine that he was centered in. And we took it up. We knew when she was teaching that day, so we waited until we could get into the room, and then we went up there and opened that magazine to the centerfold and put it on the podium.
[00:40:00] And he walks in and he was holding a kid. I don't even want to say it. She had a great sense of humor about it. She about cracked us up. Because she walked up there and she has this stern look on her face. We were going, "Oh my God, we're in so much trouble." And then we all cracked up. But yeah, that's one of the things that we pulled that I remember that was pretty funny. There was some other stuff but that was pretty good. Oh, the commander of the 91C School, they have commanders for different areas. The commander there, my friend that got married in that church that I'm still in touch with, he gave her away. And I got pictures of it.
Katie: Oh, wow. Very nice. Do you remember his name?
Pamela: [00:40:30] She was trying to remember it too. I'm sure she does. I have to ask her. But I've got pictures of him, and I think if I look close enough, I might be able to see his name. But he should be listed as the commander there for the 91C School for Presidio somewhere. But yeah. Yeah. He's the one that gave her away. Yeah.
Katie: Oh, wow.
Pamela: [00:41:30] Mm-hmm. I'm trying to think. I have a lot of memories from there. It was one my favorite places to be. The parade field, all of that stuff, the officer's quarters, the housing. I've been all around that post. And like I said, me and my friend actually walked. Her name was [inaudible 00:41:04] was hippie. I remember that. So, we walked from the barracks all the way across the Golden Gate Bridge, and then we decided to walk back. That's a pretty good distance. The MP comes by, and he says, "Hey, you guys want a ride? Where are you headed?" And she said, "The barracks here." And he said, "Get in. I'll take you back." We said, "I'm never going to do that again." We didn't do it again. She's the same one that I went bicycling with. We got a couple of bikes, and we went cycling around the boat and sat down in this area, not knowing there was poison ivy there
Katie: Oh, no.
Pamela: [00:42:00] Guess who ended up in the ER? Both of us. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's where we ended up, was in the [inaudible 00:41:47] room. But yeah, I got a chance to go to Disneyland when I was out there. I still have my mug that I got when I went to Disneyland in '73.
Katie: Oh, wow.
Pamela: Mm-hmm. Yeah. It's a cool city. No doubt about it.
Katie: Yes, it is a fun city and it's a beautiful Army post.
Pamela: Yes. And unfortunately, when the state took it over, they didn't keep up with the grounds like it was back then.
Katie: [00:42:30] Mm-hmm. Because you recently visited? Is that true?
Pamela: [00:43:00] Last time I was there, yeah. My husband and I went to California in 2017, and he'd never been to San Francisco so we actually went to San Francisco. And I got a chance to see some of the stuff that was there. But when I went back in '96, the hospital and everything was still there, but my barracks were already gone. But the grounds were immaculate. I'm talking about everything was perfectly trimmed, no weeds, there was no tall grass, the trees, everything was maintained, and I didn't see that. I was kind of sad I didn't see that. Yeah.
Katie: [00:43:30] When you heard that the National Park Service was going to be taking over, where were you living at the time? Did you hear about that kind of transfer?
Pamela: Yeah. I was actually living in Pennsylvania at the time. I had to go to a meeting out in San Francisco, so they gave me a chance to see it, and it was a lot better. I got a chance to go into the officer's club, which I never got a chance to go into. But unfortunately when I went this time, it didn't look the same. It was all the decor. Everything had changed. And no offense to the state, but they made it some sort of foo foo learning place and removed all the stuff that made it for what it was. There's certain things that just need to stay the way they were. Preserve it. But they didn't. Not inside that building. Not the officer's club. Yeah. There's a lot of history there. It was Spanish. That's what it was. Okay. What else?
Katie: All right. I didn't have any more questions unless there was something that you wanted to add.
Pamela: [00:45:00] I can't think of anything right off the hand, but you can always call me or send me an email if you need anything.
Katie: Yeah, of course. Well, thank you again for doing the interview.
Description
Pamela Gayheart-Walston discusses becoming and being a nurse for the U.S. Army in the 1970's.
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