Donut Dollies in Vietnam: Baby-Blue Dresses and OD Green

The young women who served in South Vietnam with the Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) program were known informally as Red Cross recreation workers. To the American men who served during the Vietnam war they were simply Donut Dollies. Ask any Donut Dollie why she was in Vietnam and she would tell you that she was there because the men were there. Ranging from large bases such as Cam Ranh Bay to forward Landing Zones and firebases, their job was to provide GIs with a brief respite from the war through games, Kool-aid, or just their presence.

In Donut Dollies in Vietnam: Baby-Blue Dresses & OD Green, Nancy Smoyer, who served as a Donut Dollie during 1967-68, writes a poignant memoir of her Vietnam experience, both during and after the Vietnam war. Based on Nancy’s photographs and letters and tapes home, as well as emails written to veteran groups since 1993, she pulls together material from others to share the emotions and events she and other Donut Dollies experienced.