On Friday, May 27th we were honored to have seven Donut Dollies join us for a Q&A session following the showing of our award-winning film, the Donut Dollies Documentary, for the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association 39th reunion in Tampa. In the photo below, our film’s co-producer, archivist and music supervisor, Jim Gardner, poses a question to the Donut Dollies, they are (L-R): Dorset Hoogland Anderson (’68-’69 – Nha Trang, Cu Chi & Tuy Hoa), Diane Steinhauser Shufelt (’67-’68 – Quy Nhon, Lai Khe & An Khe), Dorner Carmichael (’71-’72 – Bien Hoa, Camp Eagle – south-east of Huế & Chu Lai), Nancy Smoyer (’67-’68 – An Ke, Da Nang & Cu Chi), Larry Young Hines (’68-’69 – Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh Air Force, Tuy Hoa & Chu Lai with the Americal Division), Melinda Koester-Pendino (’69-’70 – Bien Hoa Army, Tuy Hoa, Da Nang & An Khe) and Susan Bradshaw McLean (’70-’71). 

These women were so warmly welcomed by the helicopter pilots, and love, respect and admiration was shared by the pilots for their Donut Dollies and from the Donut Dollies for their pilots.  We thank the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association for inviting us to share our film with its members.  You can learn more about the VHPA at www.vhpa.org

CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO EXPAND

We were honored to have these Donut Dollies join us at the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association 39th reunion for a screening of the Donut Dollies Documentary on Saturday, May 28th.  Those attending were (L-R): Ellie Freeny-Uzelac (’71 – Bien Hoa), Laura McLaughlin (’69-’70 – An Khe, Tuy Hoa & Bien Hoa), Mary Jo Merrill-Shenk (’67-’68 – Quy Nhon, Pleiku & Nha Trang), Dorset Hoogland Anderson (’68-’69 – Nha Trang, Cu Chi & Tuy Hoa), Dorner Carmichael (’71-’72 – Bien Hoa, Camp Eagle – south-east of Huế & Chu Lai), Melinda Koester-Pendino (’69-’70 – Bien Hoa Army, Tuy Hoa, Da Nang & An Khe), Nancy Smoyer (’67-’68 – An Ke, Da Nang & Cu Chi), Diane Steinhauser Shufelt (’67-’68 – Quy Nhon, Lai Khe & An Khe), Eloise Spell Corley (’68-’69 – Da Nang, Cam Ranh Bay Army & II Field Force at Long Binh) and Larry Young Hines (’68-’69 – Dong Ba Thin, Cam Ranh Air Force, Tuy Hoa & Chu Lai with the Americal Division).  

Not present in this photo is Susan Bradshaw McLean who attending our Friday screening with six of her Donut Dollies sisters – Diane Steinhauser Shufelt, Dorner Carmichael, Dorset Hoogland Anderson, Larry Young Hines, Melinda Pendino and Nancy Smoyer.

These women were so warmly welcomed by the helicopter pilots, and love, respect and admiration was shared by the pilots for their Donut Dollies and from the Donut Dollies for their pilots.  We thank the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association for inviting us to share our film with its members.  You can learn more about the VHPA at www.vhpa.org

CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO EXPAND

We are proud to announce that the Donut Dollies Documentary will be shown on Friday, May 27th at 3 PM and Saturday, May 28th at 10 AM for the attendees of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association reunion in Tampa.  This screening will be extra special, as the attendees are the men who were responsible for safely flying the Donut Dollies to and from the military bases to the firebases in Vietnam’s combat zones.  

We’re honored to have the following Donut Dollies joining us at one or both screenings – Diane S., Diane T., Dorner, Dorset, Ellie, Eloise, Larry, Laura, Mary Jo, Melinda, Nancy, Susan and more.  Also attending will be our film’s director, Norm Anderson Amandi, and co-producer and archivist, Jim Gardner.  We look forward to sharing photos and videos from this event in early June.  

You can learn more about the Donut Dollies and how to purchase the Donut Dollies documentary at www.donutdollies.com

CLICK IMAGE BELOW TO EXPAND

We are one month away from our two screenings of the Donut Dollies Documentary at the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) reunion in Tampa, FL.  The screenings will take place on Friday, May 27 at 3-5 PM and Saturday, May 28 at 10 AM-12 noon.  It is truly an honor to show our film to the men who were responsible for getting these women to and from the military bases and firebases safely. We’re happy to announce that a dozen Donut Dollies have confirmed they will be attending one or both of the screenings.

If you are a Donut Dollie who wishes to attend these screenings (attendance is at each person’s own expense), please let us know at memories@donutdollies.com  Here is the link to the VHPA website for all reunion details – https://www.vhpa.org/news.htm and here is the direct link to the full schedule of VHPA events – https://www.vhpa.org/pdf/R2022-schedule.pdf

Dear Donut Dollies,

We are excited to share a wonderful opportunity to see our documentary, “The Donut Dollies” in the presence of an audience of Vietnam helicopter pilots.  This event will take place at the 39th annual reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association in Tampa, FL.  

“The Donut Dollies” will be shown on Friday, May 27th from 3:00 – 5:00 PM and Saturday, May 28th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM.  At each showing of the film there will be a Q&A session featuring our film’s director, Norm Anderson Amandi and co-producer and archivist, Jim Gardner.  The VHPA has extended an invitation to Donut Dollies to attend each showing of our film and to join in the Q&A sessions.  

We ask that any Donut Dollies who are interested in attending contact us no later than Friday, April 8th at memories@donutdollies.com to let us know if they plan to join us for the Friday and/or Saturday showing (attendance is at each person’s own expense).  The VHPA will provide a personalized name badge to each Donut Dollie that will provide access to some of the group events on the reunion schedule.

In addition to the two screenings of our film and the Q&A sessions, the VHPA has arranged for a room for Donut Dollies to gather if they wish to meet and talk with their Donut Dollie sisters.  They will also provide us space in their vendor room to meet and greet the helicopter pilots and their family members.  

We expect this to be a heartwarming and memorable event, and we hope to see you there.

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess & Jim

Please join us on Wednesday, March 16th at 6PM ET for a Facebook Live chat with the Donut Dollies Documentary director, Norm Anderson Amandi and the film’s co-producer and archivist, Jim Gardner. They will be discussing the film and the generosity of many Donut Dollies who shared items from their personal archives. You can view the first two installments of our new Memorabilia Monday feature at www.donutdollies.com/category/donut-dollie-detail

Please go to our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thedonutdollies and view the post at the top. Please go their ahead of time and click on “Interested” or click on the down arrow next to it to open the menu and click on “Going” if you plan to attend this chat. Either way, you’ll receive a notice informing you when the chat is ready to go live. If you wish to share this post with family, friends, Donut Dollies or veterans, please copy the Facebook link above, which you can post on your own facebook page or send via email.

We look forward to having you join us!

The director of the Donut Dollies documentary, Norm Anderson Amandi, sat down recently for a conversation with Mark G. Auerbach, host of the “On The Mark” show on WCPC15 and 89.5fm/WSKB (Norm’s interview starts at the 28:18-mark in the video below).  They discussed the story of the Donut Dollies and the origins of the film, which began with Norm filming his mother, Dorset, who’s featured in the film over the last 25-years.  He further explains how attending Donut Dollie reunions and meeting other Donut Dollies spurred him on to make this award-winning documentary.

Norm also spoke of the project’s connection to the Western Massachusetts community, which includes himself, his mom and his film production partners, Jess Hill (Producer) and Jim Gardner (Co-producer & Music Supervisor).  Also part of the Western Mass community at the heart of the Donut Dollies documentary is the inclusion of music from 12 musicians and bands with ties to Western Mass, which just last week led to a film festival nomination for Best Musical Score.  

Once you see the film (www.donutdollies.com), we believe you’ll find that there is a true sense of community that is at the heart of the Donut Dollies documentary… from the courageous women themselves, the men who bravely served and sacrificed, and the dedication to home, heart and creativity.  We hope you enjoy watching this interview with Norm.

We are excited to announce that the Donut Dollies are featured in this month’s issue of Homeland Magazine in honor of Women’s History Month.  This national magazine features articles on topics of interest to today’s veterans, transitioning service members, military personnel, spouses and families.  The director of The Donut Dollies documentary, Norm Anderson Amandi, spoke with Homeland Magazine about the Donut Dollies and the making of our film.

In addition to the interview focused on the Donut Dollies, there are several other women-focused articles in the issue.  You can read this interview at https://issuu.com/adminhlm/docs/homeland_march_2022/10  We ask you to please share this article with veterans, Donut Dollies and veteran organizations you may know.

Yesterday we were honored to screen The Donut Dollies documentary at the Beaufort International Film Festival in South Carolina as part of their Honor & Duty category.  We had a great turn out of nearly 150 people who laughed and got emotional while learning about this little known story of the American women who served during the Vietnam War.  We were equally honored to have Vietnam Donut Dollie (1967-68) Martha Fondren Spisso join Jim Gardner (co-producer) and Ron Tucker (BTIFF host) for a Q&A session.  Please feel free to share this video and we look forward to your comments.

We thank Ron Tucker and his team for including The Donut Dollies in this year’s film festival, as well as the members of the Beaufort community and the local military community for attending.  #bftfilmfest

You can purchase The Donut Dollies documentary at www.donutdollies.com, with your option to download/stream the 87-minute film or get the DVD (in March, 2022), both which include 35-minutes of bonus features with previously unseen interviews, memorabilia, photos and film footage, along with a nearly 15-minute photo montage depicting a few hundred Donut Dollies who served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

On Saturday, February 26th, The Donut Dollies documentary will be screening in two locations in the U.S. and this is the second of two announcements.  See yesterday’s post about our screening in Madison, WI.

We’re happy to announce that The Donut Dollies documentary is an Official Selection of the Beaufort International Film Festival (SC) as part of their Duty & Honor category and will be shown on Saturday, February 26th at 2:00 PM.  The screening will take place at the USCB Center for the Arts, 805 Carteret Street, Beaufort, SC 29902 and tickets are available through this link – bit.ly/DDDocBeaufortTickets  To purchase your tickets, click on the green “Tickets” button and scroll near to the bottom for the screening block noted as Block #3 (Sat. Feb. 26, Time: 2:00 PM) USCB CFA

In addition to being an Official Selection, we are happy to announce that our film’s Co-producer & Music Supervisor, Jim Gardner has been nominated for the Best Musical Score award.  He will be attending this screening to take part in a Q&A session and looks forward to being joined by any local Donut Dollies who can attend.  

Thanks go out to Ron Tucker and his team for screening The Donut Dollies for the Beaufort audience.  

Gratefully,

Norm, Jess & Jim