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PRODUCED BY: FILM ACQUISITION AND MEDIA INQUIRIES: IN THE NEWS: SEND A MESSAGE TO THE DONUT DOLLIES: LEARN MORE ABOUT THE VIETNAM RED CROSS GIRLS: FILM CREDITS: MORE FILMS BY ARROWHEAD FILMS: |
A ONE-HOUR DOCUMENTARY SPECIAL DIRECTED BY CHERYL FRIES continued from page 1...
Thirty years later, the Vietnam Donut Dollies gathered for their first-ever private reunion and granted Arrowhead Films exclusive access to their never-before shared story. This one-hour documentary special looks at a unique, untold chapter of American women’s history that paved the way for US servicewomen today. With access to incredible archive footage, including home movies never before seen on television, archival film, personal photos and first person accounts, director Cheryl Fries tells these women’s dramatic stories, and allows us to listen as the now-grandmothers reflect on their time at war. “At times the smiles were hard to pull from them, but that didn’t stop us from trying.”
“We came to expect the concertina wire fences, the mountains of sandbags, the charged air of bunkers, all so out of place in this beautiful country, but then, so were we.” And it wasn’t all fun and games. Apart from being mortared, shot at, and even shot down, the Donut Dollies had to contend with the behavior of young guys who hadn’t seen a real woman for some time. Despite all the dangers, Donut Dollies were given no special training and no special gear for protection.
“As I look out over American mountains, I drift back to Vietnam. There’s no artillery, no firebase, no bag of games in my hand. But the GI’s are here with us, every one of them.” Sister, girlfriend, friend… the Donut Dollies were “round eyes” who brought entertainment, a smiling face, and a reminder of home to millions of young American men who otherwise faced the grim, daily reality of death. It was a year in their lives that would affect each of them forever. A Touch of Home: The Vietnam War’s Red Cross Girls pays tribute to their courage and their actions through their amazing stories and those of the people they helped. return to page 1... |
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“From going to war, we learned the value of peace. From seeing so much death, we learned the gift of living.”
Becoming a Donut Dollie required a special skill set: she had to be college educated, audacious, highly social, and more courageous than she ever expected. Once on the ground, the Red Cross girls didn’t wait in safe rec centers, they took their program to the war. Wearing their regulation powder-blue dresses and armed only with a smile and a bag of games, these young women then held the most forward operating position for females in American military history. 
Today, more than 155,000 American women have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan; 70 have been killed and more than 430 injured. The women who serve in today's wars are helicopter pilots, drivers, and commanders. No one questions their ability to handle the pressures of combat. And that is due in large part to the women who wore powder blue.