I very much enjoyed the article on the Donut Dollies. My VVA Chapter 767 in Racine, Wisc., has always supported this great group of women.

In every Fourth of July parade, we have had a group of women march in honor of the Donut Dollies in full costume. Our chapter also has had floats of the Three Servicemen and the Vietnam Women’s Memorial statue. Although we cannot (because of age) do the statues, we still are representing the Donut Dollies who I am proud to represent.

Thank you again for the great article, and I very much hope they receive the recognition they long deserve.

Ellen Myers
Racine, Wisconsin

The American Red Cross sent two young women to each company in my unit once a week to talk to the troops, entertain them with games, and serve them cookies and Kool-Aid.

One visit took place in the day room and was not well attended by the troops. The only ones in the company area during the day were the small number of men working the night shift. The rest of the men were working in the various facilities scattered all over Cam Ranh Bay.

The Red Cross women we called Donut Dollies felt they were wasting their time on the visit as most of the company didn’t even know they were there.

There was an ice cream plant at Cam Ranh, and commanders could draw extra ice cream for their troops upon request. I requested 18 gallons of ice cream and took it to the Mess Hall. The cooks and KPs scooped the ice cream into cups and put them back in the freezer.

When the Donut Dollies arrived, I suggested we take them to the work areas, and they could give the troops ice cream. With my driver, two Donut Dollies, and a trailer full of marmite cans, we visited every work site. The troops loved it and the Donut Dollies loved it.

The women looked forward to visiting after that, and even got their schedule increased by an hour to do the job more completely. When I was unable to take them, the XO or the First Sergeant did that duty. It was an immensely popular program.

Hardy W. Bryan
via email

After reading the article in the November-December issue, celebrating the “Pioneering Women of the Donut Dollies” by Jen Kirby, I believe that the group of women who visited us at Bien Hoa Air Base in December 1969 were those Red Cross volunteers.

They parked their Caribou aircraft in our ramp area. After de-boarding, we maintenance mechanics and crew chiefs swarmed around them like bees going after flowers.

They parked in our area for the aircraft that sprayed Agents Orange, White, and Blue. We were all standing at the tail section of the C-123 aircraft where the tail spray was. Were these young women exposed to AO? Yes, they were.

Just after they left, a C-141 aircraft landed. It was the Bob Hope USO tour including Mr. Hope and performers Connie Stevens, the Golddiggers, and Miss World. They, too, were all exposed to AO.

The reason the Donut Dollies’ plane and the Bob Hope USO aircraft parked in there was it was a very secure area.

Robert Kotchkowski
via email

I enjoyed the article on the Donut Dollies. I had never heard of them.

I arrived in country at the end of July 1970. It would have been nice to have encountered them, but that never occurred, probably because I spent my entire tour in and around Chu Lai and Cu Chi.

It sure sounds like they provided a very valuable service.

John Baz-Dresch
via email

Thank you for your article profiling the Donut Dollies. I met them at the Replacement Center in 1968.

Another thing everyone might want to know is that the Donut Dollies are still out helping Vietnam veterans. I was so happy to see them at 6:00 a.m. here in Louisville for the Honor Flight Bluegrass trip to Washington, D.C., that I took in 2022.

I encourage all VVA members to take an Honor Flight. If you do, Donut Dollies probably will be there smiling.

Rick Waldo
via email

Puerto Rico is a beautiful island protectorate of the United States. For over a century, it has been a vitally essential source of recruitment and military installations for the American armed forces. Borinqueños, as the island residents call themselves, have always served our country proudly and with valor.

In the November/December 2025 issue Gumersindo Gomez in his Minority Affairs Committee report mentioned that the VVA Board of Directors and the Conference of State Council Presidents voted for VVA to officially support statehood for Puerto Rico. This is a very bad idea.

In my experience and in the literature, only approximately one third of Puerto Ricans are in favor of statehood for the island. One third want to continue Commonwealth status, and the remaining third want Puerto Rican independence. In other words, two thirds of the island residents do not want statehood.

No state has ever joined the Union when less than 90 percent of its residents supported statehood. No state should ever be admitted unless at least 90 percent of the residents want to be a state in the United States of America. Unless the vast majority of borinqueños enthusiastically favor statehood, it would never work.

Vietnam Veterans of America has no business getting involved in internal Puerto Rican politics, especially to promote an idea most Puerto Ricans oppose. Focus on veterans, not on political issues, which do not benefit our veteran brothers and sisters.

Guy E. Miller
Greenville, North Carolina

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