Steven Nichols

stevennichols — Sat, 15 May 2010 23:02:30 +0000

stevennichols — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 22:28:52 +0000

I love life

memories I collect

stevennichols — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:50:16 +0000

Lived in family enlisted quarters at Bakers Beach
Was in the military with a rank of SP5, Headquarter Co. U.S. Army Garrison

Most vivid Presidio Memories: I was drafted by the US Army in 1972 during the Vietnam War. While stationed in Germany I informed my CO that I would re-up if I could get stationed anywhere in CA. I was sent to the Presidio of San Francisco. The post was breath taking. I was assigned to the DIO Office as the facility NCO at the Headquarter Company, US Army, Garrison. The duty was dress uniform 8-4 M-F weekends off. I facilitated a building, bedding, clothing, etc. for the Vietnam/American orphans sent to the United States so they would not be killed in Vietnam.

Humorous memories: I met my future wife at the Presidio of San Francisco. She made me an appointment with the post chaplain. Upon my arrival at the Presidio Post Chapel I was unaware that I would be counseled on marriage. We have now been happily married for thirty-three years. We returned to the Presidio in the 1980′s to show our children were their parents first fell in love.

Other Memories: My enlisted quarters were within walking distance to Bakers Beach. I could look out my living room window and watch seals sun bathing on the rock formations in the San Francisco Bay. I recall parking my 1972 Dodge Charger near Crissy Field at the motor pool to pick up my official US Army vehicle. I held a part time job as a bartender at the Presidio Officers Club. We also had the good fortune to sail in the San Francisco Bay out of Sausalito, California.

gmail

stevennichols — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:47:18 +0000

New Mexico

somthing from the past

stevennichols — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:41:16 +0000

Year(s) writing about: 1966/1967
Age at the time: 19-20
Lived at Fort Berry and Ft. Baker on the other side of Golden Gate Bridge
Was in the military with a rank of E-4 in Company C

Most vivid Presidio Memories: I was a parachute rigger I worked almost under the Golden Gate Bridge. We would go to the airstrip and board a plane and jump out on the other side of the bay. I think the aircraft was a U6A Beaver, it would hold 3 jumpers. The riots I lived in downtown SF, watching fire trucks ride on the streets with machine guns mounted on top.

Humorous memories: I was so poor that I would ask for KP (kitchen patrol) just so that I could eat from the mess hall. I retired in 1985 as a 1st SGT. When my wife was about to have the baby and I was driving her to letterman general hospital and I hit allot of bumps in the road.

Other Memories: My daughter was born at Letterman General Hospital; she is now 41 years old.

I love the National Park Service

stevennichols — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:43:08 +0000

I am in love with my line of work – and I love California,
creating and brainstorming interactive material for
the public so rewarding – currently I am working on a audio guide for Fort Baker – Golden Gate National Rec Area and assisting an exhibit for the Buffalo Soldier –

MIS Language School

stevennichols — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:32:59 +0000

Events in the late 1930s in the Far East
and Pacific Basin increasingly signaled the
possibility of war. In response, the U.S.
Army established the 4th Army Intelligence
School at the Presidio of San Francisco in
November of 1941. The school trained
Nisei—Japanese Americans born to
parents who had come to the U.S. from
Japan—to act as translators in the war
against Japan. The army converted a
hanger at Crissy Field into classrooms and
a bunk house. The hangar looked nothing
like a traditional school; outsiders were
told it was a laundry. The students studied
in their make-shift classrooms, played
volleyball for recreation, and walked to
the nearby Bakers and Cooks School in
Building 220 three times a day for meals.
Looking out their window in late
December 1941, the 60 students could see
damaged ships returning after the Pearl
Harbor attack of December 7. The yearlong
training program was then shortened
to six months.
Soldiers trained

stevennichols — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:31:59 +0000

stevennichols — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:30:37 +0000

young-evacuee

Patriotism and Prejudice

stevennichols — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 22:27:57 +0000

One of the most poignant and sadly ironic home front stories of World War II has
deep connections to the Presidio. Even as Presidio officers issued orders to relocate
Americans of Japanese ancestry to internment camps after the attack on Pearl Harbor
in December, 1941, a secret military language school trained Japanese American
soldiers only a half mile away. The loyalty, sacrifice, and accomplishments of the
Japanese American soldiers trained at the Presidio and elsewhere were recognized
at the highest levels, but the nation forced their families to endure a very different
sacrifice as the army uprooted and ordered them into camps far from home.