Southern Californian Remembers Life as a Pan Am Stewardess in Vietnam

Southern Californian Remembers Life as a Pan Am Stewardess in Vietnam
Renée Chenette (second from left) with fellow Pan Am stewardesses about to board a 747. Courtesy of Renée Chenette
Marc Phillip Yablonka
Updated:
0:00

Renée Chenette, who lives in Laguna Beach, California, was a young Pan Am stewardess the first time she landed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base in 1972.

The flight attendant, who grew up just outside of Paris, flew for the airline for 17 years between 1970 and 1987—but it’s the flights into and out of Vietnam while the war raged that are uppermost in her mind today.

Marc Phillip Yablonka
Marc Phillip Yablonka
Author
Marc Phillip Yablonka is a Burbank-based author and military journalist. His work has been published in the U.S. Military's Stars and Stripes, Army Times, and other publications. He is the author of four books on Vietnam. His latest book, “Hot Mics and TV Lights: The Story of the American Forces Vietnam Network” will be published in 2023 by Double Dagger Books.
twitter
Related Topics