I attended AIT at Fort Gordon, Signal School 1967
I attended Signal School in 1967, my name then was Pvt Phyllis Brenning. I was there for AIT and I was a WAC (Women's Army Corp) us girls had our own small barracks, there were maybe 8 of us there for school in January 1967. I understood that the old white wooden barracks had been there since civil war days. The first night I slept there, they had some kind of a heater near the entry door..I thought it was a coal heater. The next morning one of the girls had died in her sleep. No one told us how she died, we figured it was from the heater, I assumed she had a respiratory issue. I remember having black dust on my face and in my nostrils. So welcome to Georgia. I spent a lot of time at the horse riding stables run by Colonel Thompson, he had a young daughter and we used to ride horses every chance we had. I loved Georgia all of the time I was there, I never made it to Savannah though. I would love to hear from any other WAC member that was there during 1967. Phyllis Wynne, phyllis_wynne@yahoo.com.
USArmygirl1967 wrote:
I attended Signal School in 1967, my name then was Pvt Phyllis Brenning. I was there for AIT and I was a WAC (Women's Army Corp) us girls had our own small barracks, there were maybe 8 of us there for school in January 1967. I understood that the old white wooden barracks had been there since civil war days. The first night I slept there, they had some kind of a heater near the entry door..I thought it was a coal heater. The next morning one of the girls had died in her sleep. No one told us how she died, we figured it was from the heater, I assumed she had a respiratory issue. I remember having black dust on my face and in my nostrils. So welcome to Georgia. I spent a lot of time at the horse riding stables run by Colonel Thompson, he had a young daughter and we used to ride horses every chance we had. I loved Georgia all of the time I was there, I never made it to Savannah though. I would love to hear from any other WAC member that was there during 1967. Phyllis Wynne, phyllis_wynne@yahoo.com.
I attended Signal School in 1967, my name then was... (
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Welcome to our forum!
Black soot on you face and nostrils is never a good sign. I'm glad you survived.
I wasn’t a WAC but I was there in 1970 for MP school. I was there in the Hot summer. We had to contend with the heat and snakes. Could wait to get out of there.. then I got my orders for Viet Nam. Never will forget forget Ft Gordon.
Welcome to the Hog Phyllis, enjoy.
Hi, thanks for responding, looks like we may have been on the base at the same time. I went to Fort Hood, Texas afterwards. I almost went to Vietnam, Brussels..But remained stateside..I was at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for a few years. I have been reading where kerosene was used also in those barracks. I just figured that's how it was done in the south..those barracks were so old....Us WAC's were left by ourselves, it felt strange. I signed up for medical and got the signal corps..just a few of the lies I fell victim too, but I learned a lot at Signal School.
Welcome Phyllis....BTW, was just down the road from you at Ft Jackson, SC for Basic Infantry Training (Tank Hill) in Jan 1966 and yes there were a number old heaters (coal) in those wooden barracks, many didn't work well since I caught pneumonia in my 6th week...know how you feel
Welcome to the forum. My cousin retired from the US Army. His last duty station was Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. He served in Vietnam during the late 1960s. I have met retired WW 2 Army Women, at Veterans events in my community. They are still around, despite their old age.
www.gordon.army.mil
TriX
Loc: Raleigh, NC
Welcome Phyllis. I went to basic at Ft. Bragg in 1966 and we were the first to use those old wooden barracks since WW2 - they have since been burned down (I watched the fire about 20 years ago). Ours were coal heated, but since we were there in July (Ft. Bragg is always the hottest place in NC on any given day), dying from CO wasn’t an issue.
Anyway, welcome to “The Hog” and post some images.
USArmygirl1967 wrote:
Hi, thanks for responding, looks like we may have been on the base at the same time. I went to Fort Hood, Texas afterwards. I almost went to Vietnam, Brussels..But remained stateside..I was at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico for a few years. I have been reading where kerosene was used also in those barracks. I just figured that's how it was done in the south..those barracks were so old....Us WAC's were left by ourselves, it felt strange. I signed up for medical and got the signal corps..just a few of the lies I fell victim too, but I learned a lot at Signal School.
Hi, thanks for responding, looks like we may have ... (
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I enlisted in the Navy to Be a nuclear engiineman on a submarine. I got sent to Port Hueneme, Ca. to be a truck driver. Go figure. welcome to the farm.
Hi there, thank you for the welcome. Yea, it seems like a lot of us were there at the same time.
Hi there, I'm not surprised that those barracks burned down..Probably due to the ancient heating system. I used to meet up with a few male friends from Fort Bliss, and we would play in Juarez, Mexico most weekends. We used to stay at the rooms at the YMCA. Fun times ! The stories I could tell !!
Hi, sorry I had to laugh..great way to start our careers in the military by lying to us. My recruiter told me I could keep my butt length long hair. As long as I wore it off my collar, Nope !! It took years to grow it back...not happy !
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your service.
Welcome USArmygirl. After AIT was stationed at WSMR as a meteorological observer for research and development from 1972 - 1974. It was by far my best duty assignment! I spent every waking minute exploring the desert. 20 years later I retired out of Ft. Bliss. I rarely hear about anyone stationed at WSMR.
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