The New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial Foundation will show the film “A Touch of Home: The Vietnam War’s Red Cross Girls” on Feb. 21 at 1 p.m. This program will be held at the Vietnam Era Educational Center in Holmdel.
The American Red Cross introduced the idea of Donut Dollies, originally known as Red Cross Recreation workers, according to a press release. The GIs in Korea gave the Red Cross Recreation workers the nickname “Donut Dolly” because the women had donut machines and were able to make up to 20,000 donuts a day when the troop ships came in.
The Donut Dollies were meant to be a supplemental recreation program that started during World War II at the request of the Secretary of War, but continued through the wars in Korea and Vietnam.
In 1962 the American Red Cross sent its first paid field staff to Vietnam to assist the growing number of servicemen at various bases and hospitals. At the height of the Red Cross involvement in 1968, 480 field directors, hospital personnel and recreation assistants served throughout Southeast Asia.
By the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, more than 600 women had provided services to U.S. military personnel and assisted Vietnamese refugees. The Donut Dollies in Vietnam did not even serve donuts; they provided entertainment and other services to the soldiers.
After being dropped into firebases and base camps to serve coffee, Kool-Aid and snacks, they additionally wrote, typed and mailed letters for the soldiers. They also recorded messages on small reel-to-reel tapes and sent them out to eager families and friends. Donut Dollies created a momentary diversion for the servicemen by organizing entertainment, making hospital visits and building troop morale, according to the press release.
“ATouch of Home” is a look at the lives of these women who, for so many service personnel, provided their only connection to their world back home. These stories are told by the Donut Dollies themselves and include many of their own home movies and photographs.
Lecture attendees are asked to RSVP to 732-335-0033. A donation of $5 per person is suggested. The Vietnam Era Educational Center is adjacent to the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial off the Garden State Parkway at exit 116. The educational center is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular admission is free for veterans and active-duty military personnel. Regular adult admission is $4; student and senior citizens admission is $2; and children under 10 are admitted free.