The Voices of Letterman General Hospital

MAIN Aerial Letterman Army Medical Center April 1973
Letterman General Hospital

Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, GOGA 38738





Letterman General Hosipital was built over time beginning in 1898, it was named Letterman in 1911, and many Medical firsts happened here. On this page though, we can listen to the people who worked at the Hospital and learn from there experiences.

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Nurses Embarking at SFPE c1942
Letterman nurses at Embarkation

Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, GOGA 35288


"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 in 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."- Pamela Gayheart-Walsten

 
 
Nurses & Soldier Patient at Letterman c1915-1920  large
Nurses at Letterman

Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, GOGA 17949


"No, at Letterman you didn't have to get up. It was different. But doctors - to nurses, they’re gods. Really you tried to follow their orders, but there were times you had a little conflict" - Irene Zieski

 
 
Letterman Ward
Letterman General Hospital Ward

Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, GOGA 35256


"But I'll remember when the first prisoners came back from the Philippines island, from the Bataan March, remember? Oh, brother, that was really something. Those were the first ones...Then they marched them to Letterman. I don't think they even came to the dispensary. They just went right to Letterman because they had suffered so much in the Philippines."- Amelia Schmidt

 
 
Letterman patients in line for pay
Soldiers lined up at Letterman Hospital

Golden Gate NRA, Park Archives, GOGA 35288



"It was a pleasant place, and there was a certain amount of this, but I think Letterman was unique, and everybody who had ever heard anything about Letterman wanted to come here to serve on this Post. It was more like a family, a happy family." - James P. Geiger

 
 
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Last updated: July 10, 2024

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