
Donut Dolly Kathy Hoff in the patented powder blue ARC uniform in Vietnam (https://www.redcross.org)
by Todd DePastino
We talk a lot about Vietnam Red Cross “Donut Dollies” at the Veterans Breakfast Club.
Everyone loves to love them. Vietnam Veterans love them for the work they did boosting morale at camps, fire bases, and remote outposts in Southeast Asia. The rest of us love them because they’re so darn fun, vivacious, adventurous. And they have great stories to tell.
That’s why I’m surprised when I hear about the injustices and slights that Donut Dollies continue to face.
A recent note from Vietnam Veteran Rod Patterson is a case in point. He told me his wife, Dorothy White Patterson, served as a Donut Dolly in Vietnam in 1967-1968. Rod had watched our recent discussion with a bunch of Dollies and also saw that we were planning on screening an upcoming Donut Dollies documentary.
Rod wrote:
Dorothy was stationed first at Cam Ranh Bay then transferred to An Khe. The transfer was postponed a couple of days because of the Tet offensive. Dorothy knew the risks and still took a leave of absence from teaching to go to Vietnam and support the troops. I, on the other hand, was drafted. I did not volunteer to join and I did not volunteer to go to Vietnam.
A few years ago, Dorothy donated her uniform and other items she had brought back from Vietnam to a local military museum. At first, her uniform was displayed along with the other uniforms that are displayed there. Recently, I noticed that her uniform is no longer on display. The director of the museum was there. At first, he told me that the museum only displayed items from people that were from our county. I told them that she has lived here since 1966 and had taught school here for 40 years. Then, he admitted the real reason: Dorothy was not military.
Another time, a museum staff member asked if Dorothy would like to share her story with students from local schools. She said yes. Then, he asked what hospitals she had worked with. She said she wasn’t a nurse. He then revoked the invitation to speak to the classes.
Rod’s story is reminiscent of we heard from Libbie Hegvik about her Donut Dolly mother, Diane Zettervall, being denied a seat on Honor Flight with her Vietnam Veteran husband.
Such exclusion, to me, borders on the unconscienable.
Donut Dollies were members of what the Red Cross called its Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program, which put young women in the field to help boost the morale of men serving in combat zones in Vietnam.
The first American Red Cross Field Directors landed in Vietnam in February 1962, and the last Red Cross staff members departed the country on March 29, 1973. Over one thousand Red Cross women served in Vietnam over those 11 years, 627 of them as “Donut Dollies.”
Dorothy White Patterson’s service was in many ways typical of other Dollies. In Cam Ranh, she split her time between two recreation centers, supported newly arrived troops at the replacement center, and visited remote bases like Da Lat and a nearby island housing Vietnamese and American Navy personnel. Her activities included running programs, social events, and providing essentials to soldiers awaiting in-country assignments.
At An Khe, Dorothy worked closely with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and made frequent helicopter trips to fire support bases for mail, meal, and recreation runs. Her center, dubbed “The Happy Hooch,” was a space where soldiers could relax and share their fears before missions. Though she encountered no major combat-related close calls, she experienced incidents such as being stranded overnight at a fire-support base due to bad weather and unknowingly flying at a dangerous altitude during a Huey trip. She also suffered a non-combat injury when she broke her elbow tripping over a ditch near her recreation center.
Dorothy treasures her memories of service and recalls the gratitude soldiers felt when she spent time with them. Donut Dollies, she says, helped soldiers, sailors, and Marines make their service in Vietnam more bearable.
Dorothy’s husband Rod reminded me that, because they weren’t members of the military, Red Cross volunteers who served in Vietnam aren’t eligible for the benefits and protections related to exposure to Agent Orange and other hazards of war.
Dorothy developed breast cancer. Cancers like that are on the list of medical conditions which allow exposed veterans to receive treatment and health benefits. But of course, since Dorothy was not military, she doesn’t qualify. Dorothy has been cancer free for many years, but I would be interested to find out how many Donut Dollies developed medical issues after returning to the states.
I share Rod’s curiosity about the effects of Agent Orange on our Red Cross Overseas volunteers. I’m grateful to people like author Richard Sand, whose forthcoming book The Hidden History of the Donut Dollies in Vietnam celebrates this remarkable group. Richard also has worked hard to secure a Congressional Gold Medal for these 627 women who served in powder blue all those years ago. Let’s hope the recognition comes sooner, rather than later.