In our eleventh installment of Memorabilia Monday, we are honored to share another piece of memorabilia from the personal archive of Donut Dollie Emily Strange (July 23, 1946 – July 12, 2016). Emily served from 1968 – 69 with the 9th Infantry Division and Mobile Riverine Force in Vietnam.
You can see more of Emily’s materials throughout the bonus features included with the purchase of the Donut Dollies documentary. You can learn more about the Donut Dollies and how to purchase the Donut Dollies documentary at www.donutdollies.com
This is a sheet titled “Uniform Accessories for Vietnam” that was handed out to the incoming class of Donut Dollie candidates. This sheet was included in the training materials distributed to the women of the January 21-31, 1969 training class under the title of SRAO (Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas) Service Induction and Orientation to the American National Red Cross. As you’ll see, there were specific requirements for what could be worn from head to toe.
Following their training in Washington, D.C., the candidates who chose to follow through with the program were flown to Saigon for a couple more weeks of in-country training and then dispatched to one of seventeen military bases. It’s understandable that the components of their uniforms would have been appropriate wear in the Red Cross Recreation Centers and on base. But sometimes it is hard to fathom that these were the same uniforms that they wore riding in Jeeps, trucks, and Huey and Loach helicopters to see our troops out on the firebases.
We are so thankful to Emily Strange’s sister, Peggy Michel, for having the foresight to keep Emily’s Donut Dollie archive and for sharing these materials with us. This collection included photos, slides, training materials, personal writings, poems, and audio recordings. We look forward to sharing more of Emily’s memorabilia to help tell the story of the Donut Dollie’s service in Vietnam.
PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 10 PREVIOUS EDITIONS OF OUR MEMORABILIA MONDAY FEATURE AND 65 EDITIONS OF THE DONUT DOLLIE DETAIL THAT CAN BE SEEN HERE, JUST SCROLL DOWN TO READ EACH (AT THE BOTTOM, YOU’LL SEE A LINK TO GO TO THE NEXT PAGE OF DONUT DOLLIE DETAIL FEATURES)
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