By KAREN LAGRANGE COX
— Special —
During a week-long road trip, Larry (my husband / BY Local News photographer) and I stopped at Fort Knox, Kentucky, where the Fort Knox Bullion Depository (gold vault) is located. We attended a little girl’s birthday party, visited friends and family, and stopped at Fort Knox, my home from 1972-73.
Our first destination was Michigan, where we attended our granddaughter Morgan’s second birthday party. It was a hard two-day drive with many delays due to road construction and accidents, but it was worth seeing her and hearing her say our names for the first time—Opa and Nanna.

Morgan
After leaving Michigan, we visited my friend Pam in Ohio for a few days. Pam and I met during our early teenage years at Prichard Place Housing Area in Fort Knox, where we lived. She was spending the summer with her sister and family, and our apartments were on the same corner of Prichard Place.
Other Army brats (dependents) in the Prichard Place Housing Area hung around with us at “the corner,” usually under the oak tree in the middle. When not hanging out with the other brats, Fort Knox had plenty of things for us to do, especially since my older brother Glenn had a driver’s license. We went to the movie theater, bowling alley, teenage hangout, swimming, the Patton Museum, etc. It was a fabulous summer.

Karen (left), Pam (right) with her niece and nephews in 1972.
Prichard Place is located on the eastern side of Highway 31, with the gold vault across the highway from Prichard Place. Some of us brats walked across Highway 31 and up a little way on the property where the vault sits. After going up a little, we decided it was best not to get anywhere close to the vault. I think it was a smart move on our part.
Fort Knox was Dad’s last Army assignment. While there, he decided to retire after twenty years in the Army, and we returned home to Louisiana. Fort Knox and that summer always had and still have a special place in my heart.
Our next destination after our visit with Pam was the short stop at Fort Knox. The stop allowed me time to reminisce about the wonderful time I spent there as a young teenager. We didn’t enter the Army post; standing outside the entrance by the gold vault was enough for the memories to flow within my head. This was the only stop on our road trip that didn’t involve visiting family or friends; we visited the place.
We have two more stops on our road trip to visit family and friends before heading home to Broussard, Louisiana.
The gold vault “stores precious metal bullion reserves for the United States”. Learn more about it by visiting USMint.gov.