TYPE C-6 VETERINARY CLINIC SURGICAL, WW2 STATION VETERINARY HOSPITAL, FORT ORD

Building T-3144, Clinic, Veterinary, Surgical, Medical, Type C-6, Date of design May 5, 1937, Authorized one per camp Includes an office, latrine, rooms for supplies and heater, dispensary, laboratory and room with horse operating table, dressing floor and one stock and hitching rails.

Type C-6 Surgical Clinic is an army veterinary building uniquely built for surgery of horses and mules (refer to Table No. 46 on the main page). It came with an elevating operating table where the animals would be strapped to the table in a vertical position and the table would be cranked to a horizontal position with the animal in position for surgery. This table was still installed in 1946 when General Elia arrived as a captain. Part of his job was the conversion of the hospital as a horse type to its new role as small animal clinic and food inspection. The Station Veterinary Hospital had anyways taken care of all the animals on the post throughout its service but at its beginning it was built foremost to handle the horses of the field artillery and cavalry stationed at Fort Ord. The C-6 building would now be the small animal clinic in 1946. The remains of the hitching rail can still be seen on the floor of two of the back rooms. The interior walls of this building have been changed over the years. It is unclear if there was a horse stock installed. The sliding back door was removed and a man door installed at sometime, but the outline of the sliding door can still be seen on the outside of the east end of the building.

Note: see the picture at the bottom of this page of the C-6 Surgical Clinic building at Camp Lockett when it was first built to see what this building looked like originally. Also look for the horse that is standing in the sliding door. In this picture you will be looking at the back of the building where the sliding door is. The picture below of the C-6 clinic at Fort Ord shows the front of the building where the reception and office area would be.

Unlike the C-5 Veterinary Clinic which has seen few changes over the years the C-6 Surgical has gone through many changes but, the exterior walls have had only minor changes. The add-ons over the years did only minor changes to its exterior walls. All the original windows and siding are intact. Because the C-6 became the small animal clinic in 1946 things like the dog kennels were added and some of the interior walls were changed. The large open area in the rear of the building where the sliding door and operating table and hitching post were once have been broken up into smaller rooms. Relatively minor demolition could bring this building back to this original state when this building was built for surgery for horses.

Marina Equestrian Association (MEA) leases all the buildings of the Station Veterinary Hospital from the City of Marina and should be considered private and respected. Looking around outside the buildings is fine and you should seek permission to enter any buildings or the stables.

USACE, ERDC, A Smith

USACE, ERDC, A Smith

USACE, ERDC, A Smith

These are the above 1999 plans (this is only a part of the blue print) that I received from Kathy Prew the Director at Monterey County Animals Services. It was a very interesting story how they chose to move into this building that would be used for a temporary animal shelter. After talking to General Elia, and Joyce Latimere who worked at the small animal clinic (old veterinary hospital) from December 1986 until in moved to it's new location at 4380 Parker Flats Road in around 1994. General Elia's job was to convert the horse hospital over to a small animal clinic and Veterinary Corps Command Center (C-5 building)to handle the fort's and surrounding area's food inspections.

Note: It is important to note the the dog kennels were installed by the Army over the years and not by the Monterey County Animals Services. They did modified some of the kennels by adding drains and splitting the longer kennels into two. Kennels were added as early as the late 1940's by the U.S. Army.

Here's is some information on the 25th Infantry Scout Dog Platoon that trained at Fort Ord, California in the 1950's (scroll down on the website to find the 25th ISDP)

WWII & Korea War Dog History II

It appears that the floor plan has pretty much stayed the same since General Elia converted the vet. hospital over and removed the operating table and other equipment. General Elia confirms that there once were many medical cabinets with glass doors in these buildings, some were moved over to the new clinic on Parker Flats Road and are still there today.

Sgt. Gerald Hicks (right) at the crank handle and Pfc. Tom Lehl, setting up an operating table used for ailing horses in the C-6 Veterinary Surgical Clinic, Fort Ord Station Veterinary Hospital. (October 9, 1942 Fort Ord Panorama Newspaper) DLIFLC & POM

Horse operating table in use at U.S. Army Veterinary Hospital No. 3, La Valdahon, France during WW1. Horse is strapped and being lowered in position to be operated upon for gunshot wound. (Otis Historical Archives National Museum of Health and Medicine, reeve14727)

Type C-6, Station Veterinary Clinic Surgical Building, and Drawing 700-272, building T-3144. south west face.

Type C-6, Station Veterinary Clinic Surgical Building south face looking where kennel roof connects to building.

Type C-6, Station Veterinary Clinic Surgical Building looking at the north west face of the building. Picture taken inside kennel area. The door in the picture was added at sometime.

Type C-6, Station Veterinary Clinic Surgical Building looking at the north face of the building and looking down the building, looking east. Picture taken inside kennel area

Type C-6, Station Veterinary Clinic Surgical Building looking at the south face of the building and looking down the building, looking west. Picture taken from inside kennel area

Note; It is important to note from the above pictures that the outside of the original building is still intact with all original windows. A side door has been added on the south and north sides of the building for access to the kennels over the years. And the sliding door on the eastend of the building has been removed and replaced with a man door. The old cutout of the sliding door can still be seen on the outside of the building.

POST VETERINARIAN FORT ORD STATION VETERINARY HOSPITAL 1962-1964

C-6, Station Veterinary Clinic Surgical Building reception area in around 2010 as left by Monterey County Animals Services when they remodeled the interior and did temporary repairs to the building around 1999.

Captain Allan Fox (Ret.)

Greg,
On your website of the type C6 Vet Clinical Surgical WWII Vet Station Hospital at Fort Ord, I have some comments to make:

I was Post Veterinarian at Fort Ord from 1962 through 18 February 1964. The vet hospital did not have a reception room as such when I arrived It was still the old barracks type Bldg. with small rooms off to each side. Not very conducive to clientele flow with pets through the clinic.

My first sergeant and I discussed this and he told me if I put it in to the Post Engineer's Office I would get no action on it as they were too busy with the human hospital projects. He said that the only way to get it done was just to do it ourselves. So we did. We tore out the inner walls and used the lumber to do all the patchwork we needed. We cut the large reception room window into the second room for my secretary to check clients in and on the opposite side of her room we cut another window to a side entrance of the building for a "pay window" as they went out.

The dog runs did not extend the full length of the clinic as they do now. There was only a small section of 8-10 runs at the far end and the MP's had a key to put stray animals into them at night. So although I never got credit for re-engineering the bldg. I made it into a much better operating small animal clinic.

At the time I was afraid I might get into serious problems for destroying government property but fortunately that never happened! I noticed with amusement the sequence of engineering drawings of changes to the bldg. over the years and lo and behold there was my improved bldg. with a nice reception room! At the time I was there the Post was probably as large as it ever became. I had over 4000 dogs registered on Post and I don't remember the number of cats. We were only open for shots on Thursday afternoon so we really had to run them through quickly. They would be lined up from the reception area outside and up the street past the CIA Bldg. across the street.

The human hospital executive officers wife didn't like to stand in line for her two little poodles to get their shots so I always obliged her as I was usually in the clinic on Saturday morning to see how the techs. were taking care of the animals in the kennels. Well, that paid off in spades as she was in the clinic at the time we were tearing things apart and asked me what we needed. I said we could use some pull with hospital supply. We needed things like paint and etc. to spruce the place up. Fifteen minutes after she left with her dogs the phone rang. I got my supplies!

By the way, Greg, I met you at the Veterans Day Celebration in November of 2014. I was attempting to see if I could find my old office and clinic at Fort Ord. Was I surprised to stumble into the activities and see it was all on the Register of Historic Places. I would also like to commend you on the wonderful job you've done gathering all the history of the Veterinary Hospital and Cavalry at Fort Ord. It seems unbelievable that I walked by those locked bldgs. for 2 years and never knew what they were or any of that history.

I am planning to be there for the Veterans Day Celebration in November of 2015 so hope to see your there.

In the pictures of the C6 Vet Hospital you show a picture in the office area of the bldg. with a lady designated as Katie with 2 techs. Is that, Katherine Reyman, my secretary when I was there?

Allan L. Fox, DVM

Special thanks to:
Harriet Fox

C. LARRY COX VETERINARY SPECIALIST 91T20 FT. ORD VETERINARY HOSPITAL 1969-1972

Greg
I stumbled upon your web site by starting out Googling General George Casey. I would like to commend you on your web site and thank you for preserving the history of Ft. Ord and especially the Vet Division. I spent lots of time at Ft. Ord and around the Monterey Bay and it holds a special place. I will see if I have a few pictures I can send to you. I'm sure most of them will have fellow soldiers and me in them but you can get an idea of what it looked like in that era.

I was honored to be stationed at Ft. Ord as a Veterinary Specialist (91T20) from Dec 1969 thru Feb 1972. I was drafted in the spring of '69 and signed up for an extra year to get into the vet division. Most of the vet tech soldiers in my unit at Walter Reed were assigned to a scout dog unit to go to Nam but my orders were Ft. Ord. Yes, I was stationed at Ft. Ord from Dec 69 thru Feb 72. I was a Veterinary Specialist (91T20) at the small animal clinic. There were approximately 75 head of privately owned horses stabled there. At the time I was there I had read stories of the Army horses and mules utilized there in the 30's and or 40's. I used to sit horseback out by the stable barns and imagine what went on there 30 or 40 years prior. It is interesting to me because my Great Grandfather, John Riley Ellis was a Civil War Calvary soldier that rode with the 1st Texas Legion and after the war a Texas rancher that bred, raised, broke and sold mules and horses to the Military in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

I recognize many of the buildings in the pictures and while there we had approximately 75 horses privately owned by Army personnel. I helped care for these horses as well as small animals. I had the pleasure to ride horses many miles in the arena as well as across the post into the Salinas River bottom. Brings back many fond memories.

I have a story about breaking a horse for a Colonel’s little daughter and riding the horse through the back walk thru door of the small animal clinic and were persecuted by the NCOIC. He told me to NEVER ride another horse in that building so next time I led him in there. The Veterinarian and all the techs thought it was funny. I told him that the building was originally built for horses and probably was the first horses that had been in that building since WWII. He did agree but still didn’t see the humor in it. I can’t remember his name

Sincerely,
C. Larry Cox
Mount Pleasant, Texas

Taken in the office area of building 3144 during a vaccination shot clinic. The Lady in the picture is Katie and Veterinary Specialist (91T20) C. Larry Cox and Vet Tech, Fay Russett on the right. Note: notice their uniforms hung up in the back ground. Pictures taken from Dec 1969 thru Feb 1972.

Veterinary Specialist (91T20) C. Larry Cox taken in treatment room with Vet Tech, Fay Russett on the left.

Veterinary Specialist (91T20) C. Larry Cox and Vet Tech, Fay Russett taken in the back of the small animal clinic building 3144.

Monterey Section Veterinary Service, POM small animal clinic, Building 4380 Parker Flats Road as it is today. I interviewed Joyce Latimere at the old Station Veterinary Hospital’s C-6 Veterinary Clinic Building where the small animal clinic use to be located. Joyce worked at the old clinic from December 1986 to 1994 when it moved to the new location.

Joyce says that the above animal cages and cabinet on the right were moved from the old clinic to the new location.

One more of the medical cabinets that were moved to the new clinic from the old clinic, the glass doors were removed

I met Joyce for my interview with her at the old Station Veterinary Hospital and I enjoyed all the things she told me about the Veterinary Hospital, the people she worked with and what the different rooms and what they were used for. I had a wonderful visit with Joyce and I would like to thank her for her help.

Joyce at the new POM small animal clinic next to one of the medical cabinets that came from the old Station Veterinary Hospital. April of 2009

Camp Lockett, Type C-6 Veterinary Clinic Surgical in 1941. Series 700-272 Drawing and building Number T-631. The only other example of a Type C-6 building that I have been able in find in the country. Mountain Empire Historical Society, Campo, California.Note: the horse in the doorway.

Building T-631, Type C-6 Veterinary Clinic Surgical as it looks today at Camp Lockett. Mountain Empire Historical Society, Campo, California

U.S. Army Veterinarians operating on a horse in Building T-631 (Type C-6 Veterinary Clinic) at Camp Lockett in the 1940's. Note: the special elevating operating table that was installed in the C-6 clinic is being used to operate on the horse. This would have been the same type of operating table that was installed at Fort Ord’s C-6 Vet. Clinic. Mountain Empire Historical Society, Campo, California

U.S. Army Veterinarians working on a horse in Building T-631 (Type C-6 Veterinary Clinic) at Camp Lockett in the 1940's. Veterinarian and assistants at work; equine plasma shot. Note that the horse is secured in a “stock”. Mountain Empire Historical Society, Campo, California

Note: I would like to thank Rich Borstadt, Curator of the Mountain Empire Historical Society for his help on my research and providing the wonderful above pictures.

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U.S. ARMY VETERINARY CORPS HISTORICAL PRESERVATION GROUP

Motto: “Illic est Vires in Numerus” There is Strength in Numbers

“Working Hard to Preserve Our Country’s History wherever it is being lost”

U.S. Army Veterinary Corps Historical Preservation Group is a group of individuals that are concerned about the preservation of the History of the Veterinary Corps, Remount Service and Cavalry or wherever our country’s history is being lost in conjunction with our beloved “Horse and Mule”. There is no cost to join and membership is for life. We believe by uniting together in numbers we will be a more powerful force to be heard. Our membership list is private and only used to contact our members. Email us and become a member.

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