Salute To Women Veterans

March is Women’s History Month and a perfect time to acknowledge the long and illustrious legacy of women’s contributions to our military. Women are a fast-growing force in the veterans movement. Currently women represent about 10% of the nations 17 million veterans. Projections from the U.S. Census Bureau estimate that by 2020 women will constitute about 17% of U.S. veterans.

That’s reflected in the changing demographics of the U.S. military. In 1970, for example, women accounted for only 1% of the active-duty force. By 1980,that jumped to 9%. In 2017, the figure was 16%. The growth of women officers has expanded even faster. In 1975, only 5% of commissioned officers were women. By 2017, that share had risen to 18%.

This month we also observe Vietnam Veterans Day on March 29. The role women played in Vietnam is often overlooked for two reasons – they were not yet authorized to serve in combat, and only about 7,500 served in the war zone. But in total more than 250,000 women served America during the Vietnam War. Thousands were stationed in Japan, Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines or at a stateside hospital. Many Navy women served off Vietnam’s coast on the hospital ships USS Repose and the USS Sanctuary. About 85% of the women who served in Vietnam were nurses in the Army, Navy and Air Force. It was arduous duty in a war without frontlines. The names of eight women Vietnam veterans are enshrined on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

But that is not the end of the women’s Vietnam story. As any male Vietnam vet can attest, seeing smiling women wearing powder blue dresses hopping out of a helicopter at some remote fire support base was a welcomed sight. From 1965 until 1972, a total of 627 American women – nearly all in their early 20s, recent college graduates, and single – volunteered to go to Vietnam for a one year tour with the Red Cross as part of what was officially known as the Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas program. Unofficially, they were called Donut Dollies. And they did not serve doughnuts. Set against the greens and browns of Vietnam – the colors of jungle and dirt, of military equipment and fatigues – you better believe those pale blue dresses made an impression. They brought a “touch of home” to Vietnam, making the troops forget about the war, albeit for a short time. In their own words, “We put together programs on various topics, like movies, cars, food, history … and had two competing teams answer quiz-show-like questions. We served them food in the field. We ate with them and heard their stories on top of their bunkers. Our days started at 6 a.m. on the first chopper out and end ended when we got back to our base camps at 7 p.m., dirty and exhausted.”

This article is taken in large part from the March 2021 VFW Magazine, and also a Mark Woods article entitled: “Donut Dollies made a lasting impression in Vietnam.” – Blake Hyfield