In our eleventh edition of the Donut Dollie Detail, Maggie Connor Dutilly tells about her parent’s Red Cross work being one reason she choose to become a Donut Dollie, being in a fire-fight at Camp Viking, and being called up on stage by Bob Hope as a salute for the work the Donut Dollies did for our soldiers.

Please share the Donut Dollie Detail with family, friends and veterans you may know, and make sure to like/follow us on Facebook to learn when the next edition is posted.  You can also share your email address with us at list@donutdollies.com for updates on the upcoming release of the Donut Dollies Documentary (we will not share/sell your email and will only use it for Donut Dollie related updates).

Please meet Red Cross Donut Dollie Maggie Connor Dutilly…

What prompted you to join the SRAO (Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas) and want to go to Vietnam?

Both Parents had been involved with Red Cross work. My Mom (an R.N.) had been a Gray Lady at Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, PA during WW II. My Dad had been a member of the War Production Board, so we (9 kids) grew up knowing service to the Country was a duty. Because of medical issues, none of my brothers could serve, but I had a sister who became a Navy Nurse. I think President Kennedy’s “Ask not…” speech affected my whole generation.

When and where were you stationed in Vietnam? Did you go by a nickname?

I was stationed in Danang from Aug. 1, 1971 until January 6, 1972 (with trips to Quang Tri and TDY to Bien Hoa) and Cam Ranh Army from Jan. 1972 until evacuation during the Easter Offensive in April 1972. I went by Maggie while in Nam.

What was a routine day like in Vietnam?

A routine day consisted of checking the Run schedule first thing to see whether I was assigned a Run or Recreation Center Duty. If a Run, I would climb into a ¾-ton truck with an assigned driver (Our Danang Run 1 Driver, Ronnie, eventually became my husband when our paths crossed 4 years after our time in Danang!) and another Donut Dollie (we always travelled in pairs) and go to the stops listed on the Run Schedule.

There were base Runs, where we would program in offices, maintenance bays, mess halls… wherever the Brass wanted us to gather with the guys.

There were forward Runs to firebases where we would fly out in a helicopter and would set up on top of bunkers, in artillery and mortar pits (when not in use, of course) and in mess halls if there was one on any particular firebase.

We would involve the GI’s in trivia, quiz games like Jeopardy and Concentration, and activities like water-balloon fights or Barber Call. Anything to get their minds off the war for a few minutes! Barber Call was when we would offer to give the GI’s shaves and hair-cuts (the First Sergeant would require the men to have standard hair-cuts and not show facial hair., even on firebases (I am thinking they would enforce that when things were slow to keep the troops busy.)

When I would participate in Barber-call, I would remove the blade from the razor I was using so I wouldn’t cut the GI!! Some of them didn’t really need a shave…they just wanted to be close to a Round-eye!

Our Programming lasted about 50 minutes, and we would repeat it on the base runs perhaps 8 times in a day at 8 different locations. (The Run Drivers were very important to us, for it was their job to get us to the right ‘next stop’ at the right time) and perhaps 3 or 4 times on each firebase.

If we were on a base at meal time, we would also man the serving line in the chow halls so we could greet the hungry GI’s as they came through for meals.

One day a week, I think it was Friday afternoons in Danang (In Cam Ranh the air base had their own Donut Dollie Unit) two of us would fill a big canteen with about 10 gallons of orange-ade and ICE, (a real treat in the tropics) load it on the tail-gate of an Air Force pick-up truck and head out to the flight-line at the air base. Hanging our feet off the back of the truck we would ride the flight-line, stopping at each hangar to visit with and dispense Short-timers’ Calendars to the mechanics who kept the Air Force planes running.

If we weren’t scheduled to travel, we would be assigned to the Center. There, we would play cards, shoot pool, play ping-pong, do art activities, join GI’s in the music room to play guitars, and, on special days like St. Patrick’s Day, would do program activities.

Did you ever have any “close calls” either on base or in any vehicles?

My second week ‘in-country’ my Unit Director, Pat, and I were caught in a fire-fight as we left Camp Viking …very scary…Turned out to be a sniper in the graveyard across from the Camp Gate…. we had to ride through exchange of pot-shots. No shots hit our truck… Lee (last name?) was driving… had a GI riding shotgun with a loaded M-16 in the truck back, as Pat and I rode nose to nose hunkered down on floor in the front seat.

It was that experience that made Lee decide we should learn how to drive the ¾ ton truck, so if that ever happened again, one of us could drive (we were not routinely permitted to drive any vehicle) while he joined the “shotgun” GI in protecting us.

On one firebase run, we landed right ahead of the General’s chopper, and, as was routine when the brass visited, a “practice red-alert” was started… What this usually meant was that, on a signal from the CO, x number of rounds of mortar and artillery were shot off. The problem that day was the when the rounds went out, one of the mortars doubled back and hit a bunker with GI’s in it. So the practice became a real thing! We quickly learned how to duck into the nearest bunker!

When the General’s chopper left with the wounded GI’s, the General called us into the TOC (Tactical Operations Center – a place we were NEVER permitted to enter for security reasons) and explained what had happened and how freaked out the whole firebase was at that “friendly fire” incident.

Then he said “You ladies have your work cut out for you today… Go out there and make those GI’s smile!”

It was one of the most difficult, yet rewarding days on my tour.

In Cam Ranh, our base had a ‘sapper-team’ come in at the start of the Easter Offensive of 1972… blew up some bunkers with GI’s in them… came through wire near the Minicourt we lived in. First time I heard outgoing artillery that wasn’t expected. (Had visited Artillery bases in Quang Tri so knew the sound…but wasn’t expecting it to wake us out of a sound sleep) Ended up we got evacuated to Cam Ranh Air Base… then they got hit… so went to Saigon and they started getting shelled!

Were you ever injured while in Vietnam?

Second week in country, a couple of days after the fire-fight I got a chance to go out to Spanish Beach on a day off with some GI’s from the radio station on Monkey Mountain… to an area known as “THE ROCKS”. As I was climbing down rocks, I slipped and cut my knee… Went to the dispensary on Camp Horn, where the medic dressed the wound… told me to come back the next day, gave me some crutches… went back, for several days, and noticed each time I went in there were more GI’s in “sick-call”… I wondered if they just wanted to see a “round-eye” getting her dressing changed… finally, when the gash wasn’t healing, I stopped into the Gunfighter Hospital on the Air Base and the Flight Surgeon took one look at the wound and said “It’ll never heal if they keep putting all that gunk on it”, so he ordered me into a cast for 10 days to, as he put it, “ keep the Army guys away from it so it would heal!”

Cast came off, and two weeks later I tripped down some steps on an Air Base run, sprained my ankle and had to go back to the same Flight Surgeon and same cast man and have a plaster splint on my other leg for 10 days!

When I went to the O club at XXIV Corps Headquarters, Camp Horn, (where we lived) for dinner that night, having missed chow-hall, I got a standing Ovation for my clumsiness!

What was it like to visit the soldiers in the hospitals?

Before going to Nam, I had been a Gray Lady at Valley Forge Army Hospital like my Mom had been years before, so I was familiar with hospital visits… The strange thing for me was seeing the GI’s straight out of the field… pretty challenging to deal with.

One day as we arrived at 95th Evac. we heard small arms fire. When we got to the door into the Red Cross Office, a stretcher with a body in a body bag was rolled past us to the ER…. Seems a GI had gotten orders back to the field after some weeks in the hospital and didn’t want to face going back out… so he talked a guard into taking a break for a smoke, and while the guard was away from his post, the patient took the guard’s gun and shot himself. THAT was a bad day!

How was the transition returning home to the United States?

My sister, the Navy Nurse, lived in California so when I returned to the states she talked me into staying with her a couple of weeks to ‘adjust’… I see now, having had a son go off to war, that I probably should have gone home to Pennsylvania, to my parents… but I didn’t want them to see the mess I was. I was dealing with a LOT of PTSD… in fact, until the LORD healed me several years later, I was a mess for several years.

What would you like people to remember and understand most about the women who served?

We were a patriotic group… we saw our classmates, brothers, cousins, neighbors getting drafted, and we wanted to do our part. There weren’t a lot of opportunities for women to show their support for our troops.

The women who were nurses got the worst of the war… Our job was on the other side of the bed… we were blessed that we could make a difference!

How do you feel Veterans think of your time having served with them? Have any Veterans expressed their feelings to you directly?

I have had some very positive interactions with Vets in the past few years… One local group has invited me to be part of their Honor Guard at Memorial Day Ceremonies each year, and a local Vets group invited me to visit them for their monthly meeting… when I was introduced as a DONUT DOLLIE, I got a standing ovation. THAT meant a LOT!!

What were your fondest or most interesting memories of your time serving in Vietnam?

Fondest memories…. The whole tour!

Special:

#1 Being called up onstage at the Bob Hope show so he could salute the work we were doing.

#2 Meeting Sammy Davis Jr. when he performed in Cam Ranh. (For security, the Vietnamese ladies who did the laundry were not allowed on base, so our Unit was asked if we would consider ironing for the performers. Some of the DD’s were insulted, but I thought it would be fun! And it was!)

#3 Meeting my husband… and all the wonderful guys I knew over there.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 10 PREVIOUS 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)

In our tenth edition of the Donut Dollie Detail, Bobbie Lischak Trotter tells about her experiences with close calls, making visits with the First Cav AG to each of his men at the Long Binh hospital, and sharing a truly personal experience.

Please share the Donut Dollie Detail with family, friends and veterans you may know, and make sure to like/follow us on Facebook to learn when the next edition is posted.  You can also share your email address with us at list@donutdollies.com for updates on the upcoming release of the Donut Dollies Documentary (we will not share/sell your email and will only use it for Donut Dollie related updates).

Please meet Red Cross Donut Dollie Bobbie Lischak Trotter…

What prompted you to join the SRAO (Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas) and want to go to Vietnam?

I joined to serve my country because that’s what my family did.  I was also looking for adventure and found I way to afford it.

When and where were you stationed in Vietnam?  Did you go by a nickname?

I was stationed in Qui Nhon, Bien Hoa and DaNang.  I served for one year from July 1970 – July 1971.   I was known as Bobbie in Vietnam.

What was a routine day like in Vietnam?

There was no such thing as a typical day in Vietnam.  Anything could happen at any time and often did.  Work days started early and ended late, especially if you got stuck someplace because of “activity in the area.”  Days off could involve anything from water-skiing behind a Boston Whaler, visiting an orphanage or leper colony, to just chillin’ out in the barracks.

Did you ever have any “close calls” either on base or in any vehicles?  Were you ever injured while in Vietnam?

Close calls were common.  My first one was in Bien Hoa.  I was at the clinic getting stitches taken out of my knee from a cut with an exacta knife I gave myself while making a prop.  Several rockets hit the nearby air base and killed a couple of folks.  I was once trapped at the old Michelin Plantation while it was under attack.  Another time my partner and I were scooted off to places unknown when a Cambodian commander unexpectedly showed up to review his troops in Vietnam.  During my last six months in DaNang rocket attacks were almost a nightly event.

What was it like to visit the soldiers in the hospitals?

Hospitals, next to orphanages, were probably the hardest places to visit.  There, you could not escape the reality of war.  Also, you knew that some of the guys were never going to make it home and it was our job to comfort them and cheer them.  I learned to be a good liar.  I feel very privileged in that I befriended the First Cav AG in Bien Hoa, Col. Thomas Shaylor.  He made a weekly visit to every one of his troops in the Long Binh hospital and he took me along whenever I could go.  It was very special.

How was the transition returning home to the United States?

Coming home was hard.  Unlike the men, we women could hide if we chose to, but most of us did not.  We wanted people to know, but mostly no one wanted to listen.  I lost all my old friends, struggled with my family and sought company with military people.  I was fortunate in that I soon began dating a Vietnam vet and we were very supportive of each other.  I later joined the Air National Guard and was welcomed by a lot of Vietnam vets, which I will admit were surprised by a woman who chose to go to Vietnam.

What would you like people to remember and understand most about the women who served?

I would like the world to know how brave and selfless we women were.  We truly, truly loved our fellow countrymen who also served, willingly or not.  We wanted them to live; we wanted to comfort them.  We wanted to bring a little peace to an otherwise hellish place and situation.

How do you feel Veterans think of your time having served with them?  Have any Veterans expressed their feelings to you directly?

It’s an old joke about what’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this.  I did have a couple of bad experiences, an attempted rape and a fellow telling us to “go home and make babies or whatever it is you women do.”  But on the whole the men were most appreciative, most grateful to us for our presence.  Many have told me that we kept them sane.

What were your fondest or most interesting memories of your time serving in Vietnam?

I have many fond memories of fun and friendship, romance and adventure.  It wasn’t all dark.  I think I learned a lot about the human spirit, no matter the gender, race or nationality.  If it weren’t for our leaders stirring up fear of one another, I think most people just want to live and love each other in peace and tolerance.  I love the Vietnamese people, the Koreans, the Germans, the Brits and especially the Aussies!

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 9 PREVIOUS 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)

In our ninth edition of the Donut Dollie Detail, Ellen Cadden Nagy tells how coming from a military family and wanting to see and experience the war up close led her to becoming a Donut Dollie, details the “close calls” she experienced, and explains the challenges of visiting wounded soldiers at the hospital on Monkey Mountain.

Please share the Donut Dollie Detail with family, friends and veterans you may know, and make sure to like/follow us on Facebook to learn when the next edition is posted.  You can also share your email address with us at list@donutdollies.com for updates on the upcoming release of the Donut Dollies Documentary (we will not share/sell your email and will only use it for Donut Dollie related updates).

Please meet Red Cross Donut Dollie Ellen Cadden Nagy…

What prompted you to join the SRAO (Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas) and want to go to Vietnam?

I had been out of college for 2 years and wanted to do something more meaningful with my life. I went to the University of Georgia and majored in Journalism in 1968. I had read extensively about the Vietnam War and wanted to see/experience it up close myself. And, of course, the war was on the nightly news every day, as well as student unrest and protest. I had come from a military family (as many of the Donut Dollies were), my father was an officer in the Army. My dad died when I was 11; he had served in WWII in the European theatre. I felt the Red Cross was a way to serve my country.

When and where were you stationed in Vietnam? Did you go by a nickname?

I was stationed in Vietnam in 1970-1971 at Bien Hoa (1970), Da Nang (1970-71) and Long Binh (1971). I was known as Ellen Cadden at the time.

What was a routine day like in Vietnam?

My first assignment in July 1970 was in Bien Hoa (Army) with a small center, base runs/programming (Army and Air Force), and forward runs (Army, Navy). The center was open till later at night, can’t remember but maybe till 10:00 PM. There was kool aid, coffee and coffee cake available. This was a small center and had a few game tables and (1 or 2) pool tables. This was a small unit of 6 DD’s and we lived in a Quonset hut. We once programmed to an entire ship from the dock at Vung Tau and then later served lunch from the galley – It was over 100 degrees, but it was a terrific run!

Da Nang Sept 1970 – March 1971, unit of 12 DD’s. This was one of the largest units in country. We programmed to Army, Navy, and Marines (until the Marines went home in December of 1970). Two girls flew to Quang Tri from Monday afternoon till Friday each week – from there we went to forward units close to the DMZ. Some time in 1971, they opened a unit in Quang Tri. The Red Cross Center, a very large building with two game rooms (pool tables and foosball tables), a music room, a library, coffee, kool aid and coffee cake counter was on Freedom HiIl and with Special Services, USO, a post office and PX. The center was only open during the day – Freedom Hill closed at 5:00 PM. We had base runs and flew to fire bases/LZ’s all over the mountain region. We first lived at Camp Baxter in what was once a hospital and nurse’s quarters. In late 1970 or January of 1971 we moved to the headquarters of XXIV Corp and lived in a two story base housing type building.

Long Binh 1971, this was only a forward unit. There had been a center earlier in the war. I actually liked the mix of a center and forward runs better. This unit was only 6 girls and we lived in trailers.

I never served donuts nor did we take coffee and donuts on any runs when I was there (that I remember). But, we did serve meals in mess halls; Thanksgiving 1970 two of us were on a firebase near the DMZ and served a special meal sent from their headquarters.

Many days we were up at the crack of dawn and at the heliport waiting to be picked up for the day. We often did not return until nearly dark – long, hot days. We would be back up the next day, happy and ready to go again!

Did you ever have any “close calls” either on base or in any vehicles?

On a firebase on a run out of Da Nang, the firebase took incoming and there was a fire fight. They called in gunships, and we were evacuated immediately. One night in Quang Tri there was incoming and we had to go to a bunker for several hours – it was cold and monsoon. On a jeep run outside of Da Nang we were fired on and got down on the floor of the open jeep.

Were you ever injured while in Vietnam?

No injuries. I felt safe with our military support.

What was it like to visit the soldiers in the hospitals?

The only hospital experience I ever had was at the hospital on Monkey Mountain. The hospital doctors asked for volunteers to come and see the critically injured men after surgery and before shipping out to Japan for extended recovery before going stateside. So on a day off, Sara Porter and I went (I don’t remember who else went that day, but there was just a few of us). The men just out of surgery were so badly injured and we were not equipped to witness these type of injuries. We were told “we could not cry under any circumstances” and that our reaction would set the tone for them in their recovery process and how their families would see them. Men were missing limbs (many hands, arms and legs), eyes, parts of their faces, and brain injuries. They would say they could not feel their hand or arm or leg and ask if they were still there. I felt like my heart was ripped out. We did not cry until we left. Hospital visits were not part of our programming when I was there. I see from other DD’s earlier in the war, that it was a regular occurrence.

How was the transition returning home to the United States?

It was very difficult coming home after being in Vietnam. Vietnam became your world. No one was really interested in hearing about my experience. The only thing people were interested in was ending the war. I married a GI I met when I first came in-country to Bien Hoa. We have been married for 46 years (he now has non-Hodgkins Lymphoma – Mantle Cell Lymphoma associated with Agent Orange). We both still get a familiar feeling/rush when we hear a helicopter or see a C130. In 2013, my husband and I went back to Vietnam. My husband didn’t really care about going, but it was healing for me. The cities are thriving – Saigon, Da Nang is amazing, the beaches have 5 star resorts, but the countryside is little changed with the exception that everyone has a cell phone and so many scooters. It is very interesting that there is a revival of interest in the Vietnam War and the untold story of the 627 Red Cross women that served with our brothers.

What would you like people to remember and understand most about the women who served?

It was a privilege to be there and contribute in some small way. To bring a smile and talk with the young boys – really mostly 18 and 19 year olds. They shared their stories of home, laughed at our silly games, and looked forward to hopefully seeing us again. They shared their rations of cold sodas on beastly hot days. They were in awe that we came to be with them – “round eyes.” I never regretted a day that I went, just wish I had gone even earlier. The war was beginning to wind down the latter part of 1970. The experience was the same, but different over the years. The bond between DD’s was and is very special. After all these years family is more interested than ever before and want me to talk to them about my experiences. I share two CDs that I have – “A Touch of Home’ and “A.K.A Donut Dollies.” Those give a glimpse of what we did. I just recently showed “A Touch of Home” to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law; they both cried and apologized that they never asked before. I had hundreds of slides that I threw away about 8 years ago because I really felt no one was interested in the DD story or cared, so in a cleaning moment I threw them all out – I regret it now.

How do you feel Veterans think of your time having served with them? Have any Veterans expressed their feelings to you directly?

I am married to a Vietnam Vet and vet friends that experienced programming are very appreciative; however, some never saw a DD and didn’t know we existed.

What were your fondest or most interesting memories of your time serving in Vietnam?

In December 1970 Bob Hope came to Da Nang and my now husband was able to get an in-country R&R and came up. We were able to see it together. I wish I had written all the DD’s names down everywhere I was stationed. I also wish I had journaled my experience because after nearly 50 years I can’t remember things I wish I could.

Another memory was from an Army vs Navy touch football game that was organized by some men for patients at the hospital. DD’s, Special Services and USO gals were cheerleaders. I participated as a cheerleader for the Army who won 32-0. The patients that could come outside were able to be spectators. It was great fun.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 8 PREVIOUS 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)