1968 - 1969 Vietnam War: After Tet (VIDEO)

Vietnam:

After Tet

1968 - 1969

The Tet Offensive
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October: Our Month For Honoring American Women in Vietnam: Part V

THE AMERICAN RED CROSS

American Red Cross Patch

Although they went by many names (some not appreciated, some hangovers from World War II and Korea and some used derisively by soldiers) the women of The American Red Cross (SRAO) Supplemental Recreational Activities Organization volunteered to serve their brother-soldiers and contribute in their own way to the effort in a war that no one of their generation really understood. Some have settled on the nickname "Donut Dollies" and found comfort in that association.

In the most notable group of civilian women who served in Vietnam there were three outfits:
the American Red Cross (ARC), the United Services Organization (USO), and the Army Special Services.

Most of the early groups of women who went to Vietnam set out to be a part of something they believed to be important-standing behind their nation. In the early days, the volunteers were girls who had been born as the "point" of the Baby Boom- right after WW II and were raised on John Wayne, General George Patton, the Battle of the Bulge, Iwo Jima and all the fantastic red-white and blue of their country- America. Volunteering to do their bit made sense and was, they believed, in the tradition of those women who volunteered by the thousands during World War II both at home and abroad. They would quickly learn how much the world had changed in those 20 years.

Originally established in 1882 by Clara Barton, the Red Cross provides, to this day, service to civilians and military during times of war or other crises such as natural disasters. 

"The ARC was sent to Vietnam by Congress in 1962 to assist the increasing number of American military in the country. General William Westmoreland, the military commander at the time, requested the service of the ARC workers. He considered them of great importance to the  morale of the men. Of the twelve-hundred women who worked for the ARC in Vietnam throughout the war, 627 were part of the Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) Program, or better known as the Donut Dollies. In addition to the Donut Dollies, there were also women in the ARC who worked in Service to Military Hospitals and Service to Military Installations. In the peak year, 1968, there were 480 ARC staff who assisted an average of 25,550 men each month in the clubs, and 2,300 cases each month in the hospitals."-a

The women who were a part of the ARC (SRAO) volunteered. Most of them were just out of college in their early 20s. All of them had college degrees. None of them had experience in war, and were not provided with any training to protect themselves in the case of an attack. Because there was no front line, per se, in the war in Vietnam, danger was everywhere. More often than not, their billets were situated in camps and compounds vulnerable to attacks. Many stories have been related where the Red Cross housing might be located near a helicopter pad or some other important area- the idea being that the enemy would never attack a structure with red crosses painted on the roof and walls. But they would. The enemy would wait for nightfall and run around madly tossing sappers (percussion bombs) into the open windows of Red Cross quarters knowing full well that any GIs nearby would run to help the women- and then the infiltrators would blow up the helicopters. This was an incident that occurred in An Khe sometime between the summer of 1969 and summer of 1970 as told to us by a volunteer stationed there who dove under her bed when she heard the explosions. The enemy was not there to kill Donut Dollies, he was there to blow up helicopters.

"Donut Dollie" engaging soldiers in the field in a game
intended to take their minds from the war-if
just for a few moments.

Joann Puffer Kotcher's Memoir

More often than not, soldiers in the field especially, would ignore or ridicule the efforts of these women who had risked life and limb- without protective gear like helmets and flak jackets, riding in helicopters, jeeps and troop trucks to reach their destinations. 
One can imagine that trying to balance the silly games and Kool-Aid and snacks with death and destruction was not a simple task- for the soldiers OR the Red Cross volunteers. Their charge, at all times, was to BE CHEERFUL no matter what.

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

The young American women who volunteered, whether with a civilian organization, such as the Red Cross or as Army Special Services and USO personnel connected with their brother-soldiers because they were roughly the same age. They might share a cup of coffee in the morning, swap a few laughs and then- whoosh off the boys would go on their helicopters out into the field. Sadly, many would not return. If they survived but were wounded, more often than not,  medevac choppers would carry them off to a hospital in another area or to a US Navy hospital ship offshore. Some times they would come back- but most of the time they would not. These volunteers would never see those guys again. Their buddies often did not see or hear from them again either.

In some instances, Red Cross girls would go to hospitals and MASH units to visit fellows who had been wounded, guys they had shared some stories of home with, guys who'd shown photos of their girlfriends back home only to find the young soldier had lost both of his legs. Or had his face half blown off. Any of a million different kinds of injuries. They could not cry. They could not show emotion. They could not tell the soldier how bad they felt. They had to keep smiling no matter what.

Even a warm cup of Kool-Aid tasted
pretty good!

Most of the Donut Dollies were about the same age as the soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors serving in Vietnam. By 1969, the age of 60% of military in country was 19.  It was up to these young women to keep a game face on. Imagine the pressure to withhold emotions in the midst of a war. A war that was raging all around them. Many of the women returned stateside and never received any therapy.  Just as their brother-soldiers, they pretty much faded back into "the world" as if nothing had ever happened. "After all, it was only a year- how bad could it have been?", their unknowing friends would wonder.

Sometimes a cup of coffee from a "round eye" was
the best thing a soldier could think of.

"Yes and how many seas must a white dove sail, before she sleeps in the sand?"

-Bob Dylan "Blowin' in the Wind

The question was asked "How many (SRAO Red Cross) volunteers died?" The answer is four we will list their names here with deepest sadness and in honor of their contributions and ultimate sacrifices- regardless. May they rest in eternal peace.

Hannah E. Crews, Jeep accident, Bien Hoa October 2, 1969

Lucinda Richter, Guillain-Barre Syndrome, Cam Ranh Bay February 9, 1971

Virginia E. (Ginny) Kirsch, murdered by an American soldier, Cu Chi August 16, 1970

Sharon Wesley, April 4, 1975, "Operation Babylift" crash, after her tour with ARC

The American Red Cross Memorial
Washington, DC
November 11, 2013
" In Honor and Memory of the
Men and Women of the American Red Cross
Who Gave Their Lives In Service
to Mankind

In Memoriam
May You Rest In Peace
Thank You

Thank You Women of the American Red Cross (SRAO) Vietnam

(Donut Dollies)

Welcome Home!

1. Attributions: a Weber, Maryann L., "Forgotten Sacrifices: American Civilian Women in the Vietnam War"   (1996) Master's Theses, Paper 1272. San Jose State University.
2. Photos: Have been gleaned from various sites on the internet. Most do not have credits or attributions, kindly contact us if you recognize any of these photos and/if they are yours, we can remove them or, at your request add the credit.  We understand how personal they are. VMWT mywartoo@gmail.com
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Endless Haunting

SOME THINGS YOU CAN'T FORGET

I was probably in the 9th grade when I became aware of the Viet Nam war. That would make me about 14 years old so it was 1965. We were living in Newport News, Virginia where my father was in the Navy serving as Supervisor of Shipbuilding at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. This was in the days when the Navy Department still owned the facility. It has been privatized since. Many great naval vessles have come out of there.

Amidst the angst and euphoria of adolescence and puberty, Hullabaloo and Shindig, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Monkees and Ed Sullivan, mini-skirts and go-go boots, there were mind-numbing race riots, anti-war protests and those horrific black and white scenes of the war. We actually "watched" the war on television. The first time this had ever happened. Technology had a sharp edge too.

There were marches against this war in Southeast Asia. The mention of it on the evening news was always prefaced with something like: "And in Viet Nam today...".  Usually it would have to do with the thousands of Viet Cong that the US Forces had killed and captured. It would also report how many Americans had been lost or wounded. Every night. Night after night you would hear the grim statistics. It was so alien and so foreign that the newscasters at first didn't know what to call it. Southeast Asia. Indochina. Vietnam.

Because television in 1965 was still predominantly black and white in most households, the grainy footage of action in Vietnam was tricky. It made me think of a John Wayne movie. Not because of anything other than the fact that the guys were obviously Americans and they were wearing the same types of uniforms, helmets, boots, etc. that those guys did in the movies. It was just NOT real to those of us kids whose peers were about to be the biggest wave of drafted fodder for that war. The guys fighting in 1965 had been born in the latter days of World War II.  And it made a difference, just those few years, because their whole vision of patriotism, war, army, the red, white, and blue, Mom and apple pie and all that stuff still existed and still resonated mightily with many of them. And they went into this hell as born patriots.

It wasn't until the reality that the Greatest Generation, to some Vets, dropped the ball and let the military down throughout the waning days of the war. It has been long believed by many that had the politicians stayed out of the war and let the military do its job, the war would've ended much sooner than it did. And much differently. We will never know. And today's examples of Iraq and Afghanistan are not much changed as far as who is minding the store. On the other hand, many believe that General William Westmoreland, commander of MACV and his "war of attrition" coupled with the "search and destroy" strategy were responsible for failures on the ground and the many deaths of young American soldiers and their Vietnamese counterparts, the ARVN (Army of the Republic of Vietnam).

By the time my segment of the Boomer generation came along-born in '50-'52 - we were scrambling. Whether it was by taking heed to the protest songs of Baez, Seeger, Dylan and the rest or physically attending a march or demonstration in front of the City Hall or the Admission Offices of a college or high school-kids were on the march. While some were protesting, others were being drafted. Women were not allowed to go to combat. And that, for me personally, was a good thing. I would've been the perfect age for the draft. I graduated from high school in 1969. But the reality is, not a lot of kids my age were being drafted. You see, I happened to be living in privileged neighborhoods. The Washington, DC suburbs and the Tidewater area of Virginia. Everyone knows now that the Vietnam War, for all intents and purposes, was fought by blue-collar America. By African Americans, Southerners and Urban Northerners and Midwesterners. The children of the wealthy, unless they signed up, pretty much did not get drafted into the military. Please read this great book that gives you a birdseye view of what every kind of person was thinking about Vietnam. "Long Time Passing" by Myra McPherson. 

Whether to war or for peace we were marching.

Remember, the average age of a soldier in VN was 19. In World War II it was 26. We were kids. We were all just kids.

Nobody EVER in my memory took the time to explain what the Vietnam war was all about and why the American presence was so pivotal. No teachers, not my parents, no one. And still, on the television-now in color-we saw glimpses of this war, one and a half worlds away and still didn't understand it.