Anchored In Service

Written by Marlene Wainscott, Sweet Owen Contributor

Owen County native Connie Gayle served in the US Navy from 1975–1988 as a Hospital Corpsman. Due to her service beginning in the time frame of the Vietnam War, Gayle is classified as a “Vietnam-era” veteran. The Gayle family had a military history. Her father, George West Gayle, had served his country during World War II as a US Marine in the Pacific Theater. Gayle decided to join the military when she was 19 years old. “I wanted to go see things, and I wanted an education,” she recalled. “It was most definitely an education!”

Pictured above: Connie Gayle

Choosing the Navy & Corpsman Path

“I always wanted to work in the medical field.  When I took the ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) in high school, they told me I needed to go into electronics, but I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be in the medical field, so they let me enlist to be a hospital corpsman.  A recruiter came to school on career day, and I talked to them about joining the Navy.”

Gayle received her basic training in Florida. “It was a different experience, but I didn’t go into it with any fear. I was excited about doing it.  It was the first time I had ever flown, and I was able to go to Disneyworld.”

After basic, Gayle spent her first year in the Navy in school and training.  “I went to Great Lakes to Corpsman School and then on to Oakland Naval Hospital in California for ‘hands on training’. It was a huge military hospital.  Many active-duty military came to this hospital to be treated, including Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms and active-duty personnel off the ships that were docked there.”

Service Overseas: Okinawa

After coming home for a short leave, Gayle was assigned to an Army hospital in Okinawa, Japan. “The Navy was taking over the facility; as a result, I was considered a ‘plank owner’ of the Okinawa Naval Hospital, which meant that I was on the original crew of the facility.” The term “plank owner” is used by the US Navy. The term was originally applied to a crew member that was around when the ship was being built and commissioned; as a result, they had bragging rights to the ownership of one of the “planks” on the main deck. Today, the term applies to anyone who is a commissioning crew of a Navy ship or Navy activity.

Gayle spent a year and a half in Okinawa and served in the obstetrics clinic in labor and delivery.

Service at Home and Abroad

Her next assignment took her to Naval Air Station Memphis, where she served in the dispensary and emergency room for two years.  After serving for four years and fulfilling her contract, Gayle re-enlisted for another four years.  She was able to choose where she wanted to be assigned.  She chose Scotland.

The Royal Air Force Station in Edzell, Scotland had previously been an airfield during WWI and WWII.  In the 1960s it became part of a US Navy communications and monitoring network. “It was a very high-security area,” she said. “I worked the dispensary which was like an outpatient clinic or urgent care. We had a small ER and a sick call.”

Her time spent in Scotland was one of her fondest memories during her service. “There was a woman in Scotland; she was the Chaplain’s wife. She had a huge family, thirteen children, and they had adopted several of them. She was pure of heart. She was so calm and took care of so many people. I never could understand why she wanted to take care of us when she already had so many to take care of, but she was such an amazing woman and led a Godly life.”

“It gave me a different perspective on culture. Seeing different cultures makes you appreciate your own and gives you a greater understanding of other cultures, too. You see how different people live and see how fortunate you are to have the things that you have that you often take for granted. You become an ambassador of your own country and community.”

Final Duty Stations & Nursing Education

After serving 3 years in Scotland, Gayle returned to the United States and served at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in Parris Island, South Carolina. “I worked in the dispensary, mainly taking care of the recruits.  We saw many heat-related illnesses.  We had a cool room team where some had to be immersed in ice water to reduce their body temperature.  While there, I became the Corpsman in charge of the battalion aid station.”

During this time, Gayle enlisted again for another four years. From South Carolina, she was then assigned to the Naval Air Station Brunswick in Maine.  Her duties included dispensary, ER, pharmacy, and medical records. “When I fulfilled my last enlistment contract, I decided not to reenlist due to diminishing GI Bill opportunities.  I used my GI Bill to obtain my RN from Thomas Moore college.  While in school, I worked at the Owen County hospital as a nursing assistant and in the ER.  After graduation, I went to the Carroll County Memorial Hospital.”  Gayle went on to serve for thirty years at Carroll County Memorial Hospital in Carrollton, Kentucky, until her retirement in 2021.

A Journey of Growth

While traveling to different places was an exciting part of her time in the military, Gayle added that each of the places she was assigned taught her different skills that were invaluable to her during her time in the Navy and in her career as a nurse.

“The time I served helped me develop my independence and I became more self-sufficient. It opened many doors for me and gave me so many experiences. It helped me discern the character of people.  In other words, I was able to distinguish between the positive influences and the negative influences in my life.”

From Service to Sourdough

Beyond the uniform and the hospital halls, Connie and her sister, Veronica, have spent over fifteen years running a home-based bakery called Daily Bread. They craft baked goods, jams, and jellies. Over the years, Gayle also participated in Homegrown By Heroes (a Kentucky program that helps shoppers identify products from veteran-owned farm businesses). Together, Connie and Veronica have become familiar faces at local farmers markets, where their small-batch recipes, neighborly smiles, and “buy local” spirit keep customers coming back.

Today, Connie stays joyfully busy spending time with her grandchildren and continuing to serve the community, with her sister, through Daily Bread.

Gayle represents the many women who proudly served our country as well as the many women who have made an impact in our community and beyond. Her story is a reminder that service takes many forms and that the values learned in uniform carry forward into every season of life.