In our eighth edition of the Donut Dollie Detail, Diane Schmidt Curley tells how she learned of the Donut Dollie program from a magazine article; shares memories of playing games and talking with the soldiers on firebases, and tells how coming home was made easier by her family, friends and Howard Kalt of Kalt’s Restaurant in Milwaukee.

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 Diane Schmidt Curley…

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

I went to Vietnam because I had just graduated from college and wanted to do something interesting and meaningful. It was 1968 and the Vietnam war was on everyone’s minds.   That summer, 1968, I had just graduated from college.  I was reading a magazine (Cosmopolitan) which had an article on types of programs which needed women.  I believe it was nursing, military, and the Red Cross.  The Red Cross seemed perfect for me.  I called the number in the article and the man who answered the phone said he would like to interview me in person.  I went to St. Louis where I was accepted into the program.

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

I was stationed at Cam Ranh Bay from 9/68-1/69.  From there I went to Chu Lai until the end of my tour (10/69).  I also spent a week TDY at Pleiku.  I had no nickname and was known as Diane Schmidt then.

What was a routine day like in Vietnam?

As far as a typical day… I remember they were very busy. We got up around 4:30 or 5 sometimes.  We flew in choppers out to the firebases.  When we got there.. we did programming.  We played games with the men and talked to them.  Also gave out Kool aid.  Sometimes we ate with them. On weekends we visited hospitals sometimes and also worked in the recreation center where we would talk to the men.

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

I never had any close calls.  A few times we saw tracer bullets fly close to the chopper on our early morning (predawn) flights.  On base when they yelled “incoming” we went to our bunkers.

Were you ever injured while in Vietnam?

I was never injured in Vietnam.

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

Visiting the soldiers in hospitals was hard but so appreciated by the men.  Most of them were so young.

How was the transition returning home to the United States?

Transitioning home was very easy for me.  My friends and family were very happy to see me.  There were about 50 family members waiting at the airport for me.  My aunt Marion had a big sub sandwich for me and they had a big 4 foot high picture of me with balloons all around it.  My previous employer, Howard Kalt from Kalt’s Restaurant in Milwaukee let me return to my waitressing job right away. My friends had a place for me to stay.  I was very fortunate.

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

What I would like people to know about the women who served is that we were very fortunate to have that opportunity and we tried our best to bring a little happiness to the men who served.

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

I think the veterans appreciated us alot.  Many have expressed this.

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

My best memories of Vietnam was the appreciation from the men, the support from the Red Cross, and also the support from my family and friends.  My mother mailed a live Christmas tree from Wisconsin and we had a really good Christmas with homemade cookies and Usingers sausage.  Also the mess sergeants were great to us.  Also in Cam Ranh Bay the guys would go out to the sea and catch huge lobsters for us.  All in all… it was a great very memorable year for me and even though we worked very hard every day… we always felt so appreciated.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 7 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 sixth edition of the Donut Dollie Detail, Cecelia “Betty” Burgess Grandison tells about serving in Vietnam, her experiences meeting veterans, and about the time she was issued a gas mask to wear when the US force sprayed “tear gas”.

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 Cecelia “Betty” Burgess Grandison…

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

I was a senior in college at the University of Georgia. I discovered this opportunity through my placement office. I was not sure if the war was right or wrong, but I knew that my male classmates would have to go. I wanted to go to offer a service to them, to find out more about the war, and, yes, for the excitement.

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

In 1968 I served in Phu Loi with the 1st Infantry Division—the Big Red One. I was known as Betty.

What was a routine day like in Vietnam?

There were 2 typical days. One was when we stayed on the base camp to plan programs and to relax a bit. The other was flying by helicopter to the base camps or staying at Phu Loi to present interactive recreation programs. These lasted around 45 minutes after which we would visit a few minutes with the men. Then we moved on to the next group of men. Sometimes we spent the day at a grave yard where a base camp was located, sometimes we went to a base camps at Quan Loi where rubber trees grew, Di An, and Song Be (very near Cambodia).

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

Not that I knew. There were times when we heard incoming fire at night. There was a time where we landed in the mud at Song Be to present one of our programs. While we were there, we witnessed fire from artillery and gunships and one rocket was fired. Once at the above-mentioned grave yard we were given gas masks and told that the US forces were going to be spraying “tear gas”. I became quite ill with acute ulcerative colitis a few days later and wondered if it had anything to do with the “tear gas”. Later when the effects of Agent Orange became known, I wondered if they were spraying Agent Orange. Why would they be spraying ‘tear gas” on our own camp?

Were you ever injured while in Vietnam?

No, but I did get quite ill as I mentioned above. I was in the hospital at Long Binh for 3 weeks before I was sent back home to Fort Gordon in Georgia by way of Japan and Andrews Air Force Base.

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

I visited hospitals twice in my short month. I really preferred this. I believe this experience may have added to my interest in working in health care. I later became a social worker with veterans who were in or affiliated with VA hospitals.

Of course, I experienced the hospital from the patient side. I was there when a young boy died of lock jaw, unheard of in the US. I was the only woman in the hospital, which presented challenges of privacy in a field hospital like the one in Long Binh. I am convinced that I almost died there, but I feel that the care was good. It was truly a life-changing experience. It took away the youthful notion that I was invincible. Later, when I worked with patients, I knew what it was like to be on the patient side of the relationship.

How was the transition returning home to the United States?

Because I returned to the US on a medical flight, I thought that my experience was unique. I had thought that the other Donut Dollies had returned home as a group in the same way that we travelled there, that once at home there was a debriefing. Of course, that was not true. I experienced my return in isolation. There was no recognition and I don’t remember it being discussed. After my recuperation, I found a job working in the local “welfare” office for 2 years. After that, I accepted a position with the Albany VA Hospital. I worked there for 7 years. Later, I moved to NYC where, again, I worked at the VAMC in the Bronx and then Manhattan. For years, I served on a committee to plan an annual seminar, “Still Hidden Client”, for veterans, families, and people who worked with veterans.

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

That we served. That we are veterans of Vietnam as much as any member of the armed services, but we were not armed. We suffered the same treatment and emotional problems as any member of the armed services.

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

I know that the veterans valued my work. I had no idea until I went to the annual Memorial Day parade in Washington in 1984. I wore my uniform. I had men tell me how much it had meant that we were there. Again, in 1993, my 67-year-old husband proudly pushed me in a wheelchair (I with a broken kneecap and he recovering from wrist surgery). This was so that I could “march” in the Veteran’s Day Parade, which was in our honour and when the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated. There were so many signs and well-wishers along the way saying, “Welcome Home”. One man said that he had come to many Veteran’s’ Day parades since he had returned from Vietnam, but this was the first when it had not rained. He felt it was because we were finally included. He said it was the first time that “The Wall” had not cried. That brings to tears to my eyes to this day.

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

While I was in hospital, I was on a liquid diet. I could not eat most of soups offered by the hospital. I made this known to a hospital based Red Cross worker who every night after she had worked all day brought me chicken noodle soup in a thermos. I did not know her name and had no way to write a thank you after I came home. During the weekend reunion of Donut Dollies in DC in 1993, I sought her and asked about her all the time we were there with no success. When my husband and I were leaving the city by Metro, we missed one train. As we were waiting for the next 2 women appeared on the platform, one pushing another one in a wheelchair. I made one last desperate attempt by asking if either of them had been stationed at the Long Binh hospital in August 1968. The one in the wheelchair said that she was. She did not remember her kindness, but she said that it was the kind of thing that she would have done. I cried all the way to our destination. It still brings tears to my eyes. Her name was Barbara Lee Gilbert. We kept in contact until her death in 2001.

The excitement of riding in helicopters. The experience of being so far around the world and the anticipation of adventures in store as the year progressed. It was such a short stay that the illness is the overriding memory of being there. It had the biggest impact.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE 5 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)