In just a couple days, Norm Anderson and his crew will begin filming the return of two Red Cross Donut Dollies, Dorset (Hoogland) Anderson and Mary (Blanchard) Bowe, as they return to Vietnam for the first time in over 46 years. These women, along with 625 other college graduates volunteered through the American Red Cross to serve our brave soldiers during the Vietnam War.
AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION ARCOA BERKSHIRE BERKSHIRE COUNTY CUMMINGTON Documentary Donut Dollies DONUT DOLLY Dorset Hoogland Anderson HAMPSHIRE COUNTY HELICOPTER Huey Mary Blanchard Bowe MASSACHUSETTS memories RED CROSS Schertz Texas veterans vietnam Vietnam War WESTERN MA WESTERN MASS WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
We’re sharing this photo, because it clearly captures a special moment for everyone in the photo. It was taken somewhere in or around Tuy Hoa, Vietnam in 1969, and features Donut Dollies Dorset (Hoogland) Anderson and Linda (Sullivan) Schulte. We’ll appreciate your help.
Click on the photo to enlarge
The story of the Donut Dollies and our documentary have been gaining wider attention through newspapers around the country. Over the last couple weeks we’ve been excited to see articles featured in the Miami, FL Herald; Raleigh, NC News Observer; Bradenton, FL Herald; Macon, GA Telegraph; Beaufort, SC Island Packet; Columbia, SC “The State”; Lexington, KY Herald Leader; Bellingham, WA Herald; Charlotte, NC Observer; Washington, DC Times; San Luis Obispo, CA Tribune; Northampton, MA Daily Hampshire Gazette; and the Westfield, MA News.
As we prepare to film Donut Dollies, Dorset Hoogland Anderson and Mary Blanchard Bowe, as they return to Vietnam for the first time in 46 years, seeing these articles makes us happy to know that the Donut Dollies story is reaching a much wider audience. You’ll see more posts coming in the next 2 weeks and once the Donut Dollies and our film crew arrive in Vietnam in March, we plan on posting photos every couple days. We ask you to return to our Facebook page or website (donutdollies.com) more often so you can view, share and comment on our posts, and join us on this once-in-a-lifetime journey.
We were glad to see that an article on Donut Dollie Dorset Anderson and our documentary was published in the Washington Times (DC). Interest has certainly been growing and spreading out across the country. It’s exciting to see the story of the Donut Dollies reaching more and more people, which we hope you’ll agree is a story that needs to be documented and shared.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/31/donut-dollies-documentary-a-labor-of-love/
AMERICAN RED CROSS OVERSEAS ASSOCIATION ARCOA BERKSHIRE BERKSHIRE COUNTY BERKSHIRE EAGLE CUMMINGTON DOCUMENTARY DONUT DOLLIES DONUT DOLLY HAMPSHIRE COUNTY MASSACHUSETTS RED CROSS VETERANS VIETNAM VIET ARCOA BERKSHIRE BERKSHIRE COUNTY CUMMINGTON Documentary Donut Dollies DONUT DOLLY HAMPSHIRE COUNTY LABOR OF LOVE MASSACHUSETTS RED CROSS veterans vietnam Vietnam War WASHINGTON TIMES WESTERN MA WESTERN MASS WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
Even though we successfully completed our Kickstarter campaign last month, donations are still coming in. Our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation goes out to the following people for their support of our Donut Dollies project:
David Atherton
Ann Blanchard/Bernice Mennis
William R. Miller
Eldeen and Ernest Nugent
Keith Yamaguchi
This 3 1/2 minute video is what we used for our successful Kickstarter campaign to raise $25,000 to film the return of two Donut Dollies to Vietnam. A total of 147 donors lent their support to raise a grand total of $26,916 through donations ranging from $1.00 – $5,000.00. This successful fundraising campaign now will allow for principal photography to take place in Vietnam this winter.
Here’s a great Sunday feature article on Donut Dollie Dorset Anderson and our documentary project. Paul Hopkins wrote this article for the Berkshire Eagle, one of the larger newspapers in Western Massachusetts.
This article provides an interesting look into why Dorset chose to go to Vietnam and what she experienced during her year of service on behalf of the Red Cross.
Thanks to Paul for his interest in the story of the Donut Dollies and in helping spread the word on what we hope to achieve through our documentary.