To Aid In The Healing Process: An Air Force Dietitian In Vietnam

1LT Jeanne R. (Moran) Gourley volunteered for duty in Vietnam from July 1969, to July 1970 as an Air Force dietitian. She was assigned to Air Force hospitals and served at Cam Ranh Bay. As a dietitian, she was responsible for ensuring that the food served to hospital patients helped the healing process. Her efforts were limited by some of the constraints of being deployed, such as equipment serviceability and the frequency of resupply. Even so, she sought to provide aid and comfort to her patients through good nutrition. In this interview, she talks about her childhood in Kentucky and attending Berea College. She discusses joining the Air Force and becoming a dietitian. She reflects on her service in Vietnam, and recalls several of the patients who made an impact on her life, including a young Sergeant who had a birthday while in the hospital and received a special birthday cake, and the live Christmas tree the staff received on a flight from the States. She describes meeting her husband, a career Navy Officer, earning her Master’s Degree at Ohio State, and transitioning into the Reserves to serve in Germany with her husband. She retired from the Air Force as a Colonel.