Vietnam: In Their Own Words

November 11, 2025
Vietnam: In Their Own Words
Story Telling at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial

Tuesday, November 11, 2025

Emcee – Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, PhD 

Advisory Group Vietnam Women’s Memorial for Eastern National, Former Vice President of the Board Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation

Time
 List of Presenters
10:00 a.m.

Donna Barbish, DHA, MPH – U.S. Army Major General (Retired)

Vietnam Veteran serving in the 91st Evacuation Hospital from 1969-1970. General Barbish has a distinguished military career spanning 38 years.

Donna Barbisch was a registered nurse and a certified registered nurse anesthetist

(CRNA). She received a Master in Public Health with a focus on policy and leadership from

UNC Chapel Hill, and a Doctorate in Health Administration and Policy from the Medical

University of South Carolina. Today General Barbisch focuses on complex challenges in national security, counterterrorism and crisis management.
10:30 a.m.

10:30 a.m. Jeanne Moran Gourley – U.S. Air Force Vietnam Veteran 

After graduating from Berea College in Kentucky. She was an 2nd Lt while completing a dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN. She served as a dietitian at Cam Ranh Bay USAF Hospital, Vietnam from 1969-70. Cam Ranh had a 10-bed hospital in 1965. It had grown to 18 wards and 675 beds and a large Aerovac in 1969. 

In 1974 married a Navy officer. Became a Reservist through 1995 , retiring as a Colonel.

She currently serves as Secretary and Newsletter Editor for the Vietnam Women Veterans, Non-Nurses.
11:00 a.m.

11:00 a.m.  Kera O’Bryon – an Emmy-nominated actress, voice-over artist, and singer, originally from Bel Air, MD. Over the past 30 years, she has been featured in numerous television commercials, films, animations, musical recordings, corporate videos, theatrical performances, etc, and is also a vocal coach. In 2003, Rod McBrien, the composer of “Til the White Dove Flies Alone”, the Anthem of The Vietnam Women’s Memorial, asked Kera to perform the theme song for the 10 Year Anniversary Memorial Ceremony on Veterans Day. Since then, she has returned in kind for the 15th, 20th, 25th, and 30th Anniversaries.
1:00 p.m.

Ceremony at The Wall

 

Story Telling at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial is an educational program presented by Eastern National and the National Park Service. We commemorate and honor those who served in the Vietnam War as well as in more recent conflicts.

We gratefully acknowledge the assistance with sound provided by Ohm Productions.

In 2015 the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation joined Eastern National. We are dedicated to honoring women who served during the Vietnam era. For additional information on the Memorial or its products and projects, including other educational programs or research on women who served during the Vietnam era, you are invited to visit the Vietnam Women’s Memorial website at www.VietnamWomensMemorial.org. Donations to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial which support these and other programs are always appreciated. To donate to the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, please write to:

Vietnam Women’s Memorial Fund, c/o Eastern National

1301 Virginia Drive, Suite 425

Fort Washington, PA 19034

Or email: vietnamwomensmemorial@easternnational.org.

Our next program will be on Veterans Day, November 11th, 2025.  If you wish to participate contact Dave Hobbs at 202-559-8711 or DaveHobbs@easternnational.org

If you or someone you care for finds that they need help coping with the aftermath of Vietnam, you are invited to call the Veterans’ Administration at 1-800-273-8255. They will assist you, including connecting you to the counseling services offered by Vet Centers located throughout the United States.