WALLA WALLA, Wash. –
The Walla Walla Armory has been traditionally used by the National Guard for training, recruiting, driving military trucks from one place to another and hosting community events.
After sitting dormant for over a year, a new U.S. National Guard recruiter has been assigned to Walla Walla and is setting up his office in the armory.
U.S. National Guard Recruiter Sergeant Nathan Zamora says, “I will be using the building for it’s main priority which is recruiting soldiers into the National Guar, but I think reopening it to the community is going to benefit my career as well.”
Zamora was born and raised in Walla Walla and remembers coming to events at the armory with his friends and family.
“As a kid I did come here,” says Zamora. “My friend invited me to the dance, I swung through, we hung out, so I do remember it being just what you think of a dance in middle school.”
Zamora is not the only Walla Walla resident that has fond memories of the armory.
Zamora posted a photo to the “Daily Dose of Walla Walla” Facebook page showing the current gym floor and a photo of that floor being used in 1942 as a dance floor, and he instantly saw the comments fill with other residents sharing their memories and stories about the armory.
Zamora says, “I’m going to reach out to people and see if we can do just a little cool timeline and see how far back I can go and see how recent I can get.”
Zamora says the building needs a good cleaning and an okay from his commander before opening it to the public.
Zamora says he has had some people reach out for requesting the space and offering to help clean.
If you would like to contact Zamora for either, he says the best way to reach him until he gets his office established, is through his cell phone at (509) 240-4350.