Dinah Lynn Wellborn Pinney Oral History

https://uncg.as.atlas-sys.com/repositories/2/resources/1230

August 2021 oral history transcript

Dinah Pinney was born on 11 January, 1956 in Boone, North Carolina. After graduating from Watauga High School in 1974 she enlisted in the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC) for a two-year program to go to Germany. Pinney did her basic training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina and advanced training at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. When she was stationed in Kaiserslautern, Germany she worked in service and evacuation, keeping track of work orders and doing canvas repairs. When Pinney returned to the U.S. she left the military but stayed on Fort Carson, Colorado with her husband who had reenlisted. In 1980, Pinney decided to go to school for nursing and enrolled at Appalachian State University in North Carolina before transferring to the University of North Carolina Greensboro in 1981. She graduated in 1983 and worked as a nurse at St. James Nursing facility in Greensboro for over a year before joining the U.S. Air Force Nurse Corps to work in obstetrics. Pinney did her officer training at Shepherd Air Force Base, Texas. Her first assignment was at Barksdale Air Force Base, Texas where she worked as a labor and delivery nurse. While there she applied for flight nurse school and, in 1987, spent eight weeks in Brooks Air Force Base, Texas for training. After qualifying, she went back to school for a masters degree in nurse midwifery at Georgetown University School of Nursing. Pinney worked on many Air force bases including Mather Air Force Base, Seymour Johnston Air Force Base, and Eglin Air Force as a midwife but also helped with instruction about midwifery. After spending fourteen years in the military, Pinney decided to retire in 1991.

Military

Army -- WAC
Air Force -- Air Force Nurse Corps

Vietnam Era (1964-1974)
Post-Vietnam, Panama, Grenada (1975-1989)
Gulf War (1990-2000)
War on Terror, OEF, OIF (2001-Present)

United States--History--1945-

Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries