In our thirteenth installment of Memorabilia Monday, we are honored to share a collection of memorabilia from the personal archive of Donut Dollie Eloise Spell Corley.  Eloise served from 1968 – 69 at Da Nang, Cam Ranh Bay Army & II Field Force at Long Binh in Vietnam.

As with many Donut Dollies in Vietnam, Eloise used a boonie hat to display unit pins and name tags that she received during and after her time in-country.  Typically we’ve seen such collections on drab olive green boonie hats, but this is the first one we’ve seen in Donut Dollie uniform blue.

You can learn more about the Donut Dollies and how to purchase the Donut Dollies documentary at www.donutdollies.com

In our twelfth installment of Memorabilia Monday, we are honored to present our first filmed version with Donut Dollie Dorset Hoogland Anderson.  She is one of the two Donut Dollies featured in the Donut Dollies Documentary as they returned to Vietnam for the first time 46-years.  Dorset was stationed in Nha Trang, Cu Chi and Tuy Hoa from July, 1968 – July, 1969.  You can learn more about the Donut Dollies and how to purchase the Donut Dollies documentary at www.donutdollies.com

During her visit to the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association in Tampa last week, Dorset showed us this dress and explained that it was custom made for her in Vietnam, featuring embroidered versions of her name and American Red Cross.  Also, you’ll see on the arms five bright, colorful stripes, which makes this dress stand out.  We’re not sure if other Donut Dollies have similar dresses, but if any do, we hope they’ll share photos of them with us.

We thank Dorset for being the starting point of the Donut Dollies Documentary, as she is the mother of our film’s director, Norm Anderson Amandi.  She has shared so much of herself with us and her ball of energy personality has kept our team pushing forward through to the completion of this important project.

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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In our tenth 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 Safe-conduct pass that was airdropped over enemy territory as a means to encourage defection of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers to the South Vietnamese and allied forces.  As you’ll see, the front and back of this item note “Safe-conduct pass to be honored by all Vietnamese government agencies and allied forces.”  The front features the flag of South Vietnam and is surrounded by the flags of the allied force members, including the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.

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 9 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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In our ninth installment of Memorabilia Monday, we are honored to share a memorabilia display from the personal archive of Suzanne Shoemaker Fortune (November 15, 1948 – September 17, 2016).  Suzanne served In Vietnam from 1970 – 71. 

You can see additional photos of Suzanne’s time in Vietnam in the bonus features included with the purchase of the Donut Dollies documentary at www.donutdollies.com

In this memory collage of Suzanne’s time in Vietnam, you can see many items that meant a lot to her.  At the top center is an artistic photo of Suzanne with a tangle of barbed wire superimposed over her image, to the right is the red boonie hat that many Donut Dollies enjoyed wearing in-country.  The booklet marked 1971 is her American Express Military Banking passbook, along with a couple pair of dog tags and a peace sign necklace.  Plus, there’s over 25 pins she received from units she visited, which are affixed to the flap of a Claymore Mine bag.

As you’ll read below in Suzanne’s obituary, like many of her Donut Dollie sisters she chose to make a career in the military.  Suzanne had a distinguished 24-year career in the United States Air Force and retired in 1997 as a full Colonel.  

We thank Michael Fortune (Suzanne’s husband) and Emily Strange’s sister, Peggy Michel, for allowing us to share these materials.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 8 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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In our eighth 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. 

This is a set of Military Payment Certificates (series 661) that Emily brought home from her tour in Vietnam.  As you’ll see on the back of the 5-cent thru 50-cent MPCs and the front and back of the 1-dollar MPC is the following statement – “For use only in United States Military Establishments – By United States authorized personnel in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.”

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. 

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

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 7 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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