Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Artwork of the Centralia Armory from the opening day program on August 5, 1938....... read more read more
Subscribe
Ghouls, ghosts and spirits – or could it just be the wind and shadows? For as long as there has been recorded media, humans have claimed to be visited by paranormal phenomena. That includes members of the Washington National Guard, who claim to have experienced the unknown in some of our most historic locations.
Walla Walla Armory
When you enter the Walla Walla Armory, which recently celebrated its 101st birthday, you’re likely amazed by the beautiful architecture, the historic photos and the amazing drill floor which has been a gathering place for the community for decades.
Buildings like the Walla Walla Armory carry such a unique history to the Washington National Guard. Artillerymen from 2nd Battalion, 146th Field Artillery Regiment deployed from the armory during both World War I and II, as well as Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. It has served as a staple of the National Guard in Southeast Washington and is now home of Detachment 1, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment.
Sgt. 1st Class Edward Roelofs was a new supply sergeant when he was stationed at the Walla Walla Armory. It was during an early morning visit when he experienced his first unknown experience at the armory.
“I needed to go to the armory around 3:30 am and get the GSA vehicle and leave. So I arrived and went into the entryway and turned to head to my office. On the shiny tile under the lights there was a clear trail of bare footprints that came from the basement stairs, around the corner and into the restroom,” said Roelofs. “This froze me in my tracks.”
After cautiously checking the restroom, Roelofs determined it was empty. He continued his search of the building, going downstairs, turning on every light as he went, making sure everything was secured.
“I noticed the footprints stopped at the bottom of the stairs, so I ended my search and grabbed the keys and left,” said Roelofs.
A few days he brought up the footprints to his readiness non-commissioned officer at the time.
“His eyes got big and he said that he had encountered the same thing a few months earlier when he came back at night to get something he had left on his desk,” said Roelofs. “He hadn’t brought it up because he thought he was imagining things.”
Geiger Field, Spokane
Spokane is home to some of the richest history in the Washington National Guard. For nearly 100 years the Airmen of the 141st Air Refueling Wing has called the inland northwest home. For 90 years the infantrymen of 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment have made their home in the Lilac city. Between Fairchild Air Force Base and the Spokane Armory, just off the Spokane International Airport sits Geiger Field, a small Washington National Guard location with a history dating back to World War II.
During the war, Geiger Field was a major training base for the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment units. It was also used by Air Technical Service Command as an aircraft maintenance and supply depot. Following the war, Geiger was closed to federal service and turned over to War Assets Administration (WAA) for disposal. It was transferred to Spokane County and developed into what is now known as the Spokane International Airport, a commercial airport. In 1978, the state decided the 70-year-old armory in downtown Spokane wasn’t worth keeping and voted to sell it. The units in the armory moved to the west side of the airport, and kept the Geiger Field name. Today the Washington National Guard has a small footprint on the location with the 144th Digital Liaison Detachment and two small detachments from Medical Command and 1st Battalion 161st Infantry Regiment.
The garage bays used to be home of Alpha Company, Recruiting and Retention Battalion. That is where Sgt. 1st class Richard Klutz had an experience with the unknown.
“I was geo-bacheloring at the time, staying in my office at Geiger Field and one night I was just talking to my wife on the phone and watching TV and I started hearing noises in the hallway,” said Klutz.
As Klutz described it, the noise included doors slamming, talking and lots of loud banging coming from the hallway.
“The building had motion lights down the hallway, so I opened the door and there was nothing and the lights were still off,” said Klutz. “I immediately shut the door and the noise came back.”
After a few nights, Klutz opened the door and made a deal with the individuals making the noise.
“I went in the hall and said, hey I don’t know you and I am sorry for whatever happened to you, but I am a nice person and I won’t hurt you,” said Klutz. “The noise stopped shortly after that.”
Old Everett Armory
After 90 years of serving the community, the Washington National Guard moved out of the Everett Armory in 2011. Originally the home of two infantry units, the 11,000 square foot location later became home to the 898th Engineer Battalion headquarters and was a hub of the community for years. While it no longer serves the citizen-soldiers of the Washington National Guard, the location does have a history and one that more recent Guard members can’t truly explain.
“I have worked here multiple times, back to 2001 or 2002. So I have heard all the stories,” said Maj. (Ret) Kelly Sowder during a historical interview in 2011 at the armory. “When you walk in the front doors you can see back into the gym. There are no lights but you can see that there is shadow back there. When I came in the doors and looked, you could see that there was someone in dark clothing, like old Army greens walking at a fast pace. I thought to myself, it is six in the morning, what is that person doing?”
Sowder walked to the doors of the gym and yelled to the person he thought he saw and got no response back.
“I said to myself, well maybe I just thought I saw something. But I definitely saw someone in a dark green army uniform,” said Sowder. “That was my only experience, outside of doors slamming and creeks but it is an old building.”
Many others that served in the building had similar experiences of hearing weird noises, doors shutting and opening on their own, creeks and faint voices. However, they all had the same sentiment, that it was nothing that was malicious.
“If it is a ghost, it is just a friendly one, nothing that is out to hurt anyone,” said Sowder.
Centralia Armory
Built in 1938, the Centralia Armory sits on a hill overlooking the city. One of the cities historical landmarks, it recently received a full make over and remodel to bring it up to the 21st Century standards.
“I really liked the Centralia Armory, it was an old building. The town of Centralia is such a great town, I really enjoyed my Friday nights there by myself,” said Maj. Drew Nevins, an information operations officer with the 156th Information Operations Battalion who served at the armory when he was commander of the 506th Military Police Company. “I would have dinner in Centralia and then walk back up the hill and would set my cot up in my office, make sure the armory was secure and then I would go down stairs and go to sleep,”
Nevins made a point to check all the doors and windows of the armory before going back down to his basement office to go to sleep for the night. This was his routine before calling it a night.
“I typically had the building to myself, I thought it was very peaceful,” said Nevins. “Until one night, about three months into command, I am sleeping in my office and around 11 pm, I was starting to drift off in my office on my cot, when I felt my cot starting to rock back and forth. At first it was very slight and I thought I was imagining it and then it started rocking harder, and then my whole cot was literally shaking.”
Nevins describes the scene as having no sound, just him panicking and wondering if an earthquake was happening or a train was going by. It shot him up and it was quiet, and no evidence of anything. After calming down, he thought it might have been a dream and laid back down.
“I put my green sleeping bag hood over my head and closed my eyes and thought if there is something in here I don’t want to know, I just want to go to sleep,” said Nevins. “As I drift off I start to feel my cot starting to move. Now I just lay there and try to figure out what is going on, and I sat up and said whatever is doing that please stop.”
As Nevins finished his sentence a loud bang hit his office door.
“It sounds like someone hit my door with the palm of their hand and I jump and probably screamed like a small child,” said Nevins. “I thought it was one of my soldiers just messing with me so I fling open my door and it is just darkness, no one is there. So I open the other door that leads out and it was darkness, no one there.”
The episode was enough that in the morning Nevins brought it up to a few of his soldiers.
“Before I could even finish my sentence my supply sergeant said, oh yes sir, this place is haunted,” said Nevins.
The building sits on top of what many in Lewis County still call Seminary Hill. Grace Seminary was built on the site in 1885 and served as a school and then a hospital, and then was abandoned for years before being demolished in the late 1930s for the National Guard’s new armory. The armory was utilized during World War II, with many coming from the location serving in the tank destroyer companies in Europe.
“I chalked it up to just a crazy story. I kind of laughed it up but come next month I am driving alone in the car, and I start thinking, I am going to be alone in the armory again. I hope nothing weird happens,” said Nevins. “Once again Centralia is a beautiful town. I love the armory, it is up on a hill, you can see out and you are surrounded by beautiful trees. So I show up and drop off my bags in my office and head into town for dinner.”
Nevins went right back into his nightly routine, even triple checking every door, window and looking around the perimeter of the armory. He finished up his routine and climbs back into his sleeping bag on his cot and is laying there still and ready to drift off.
“As I am laying there listening, and it was so quiet, I could hear my heart beat. But I could feel like I could hear voices, like right on the edge of my hearing. I thought maybe there are soldiers outside talking, maybe some from another unit are here. But there were no headlights that had come in and it gets pretty dark on the top of that hill,” said Nevins. “I stood up on my elbow, and it was just whispers. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, I couldn’t tell if they were outside or in the building.”
Nevins got out of his sleeping bag and grabbed his shoes to head out the door of his office and the speaking stopped.
“I initially don’t think anything of it, maybe they are outside on their phone. So I turn the lights on and go out the front door and no one is there. I check out back and no one is there,” said Nevins. “So I turn off the lights and head back to my office and crawl back in bed.”
He started hearing whispers again, this time louder and accompanied by slow deliberate footsteps. So Nevins opens the door again to his office and says, ‘hey man, it’s late and there is no one there.’
Whether the armories are haunted or it is the mind playing tricks on people, that is unsure. Old buildings often shift foundations, they have drafty doors and windows and creeky floors. Soldiers have often been known to play tricks on each other for a laugh. Whatever it is, that is for you to decide.
| Date Taken: | 10.26.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2022 18:10 |
| Story ID: | 431987 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 395 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Wind and Shadows or something else? Guard members share stories of the unknown, by Joseph Siemandel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
