From time to time, we receive a comment claiming that the Red Cross charged the military for donuts and coffee. We’ve heard from numerous Donut Dollies who served in Korea and Vietnam and they’ve told us that they never charged for donuts or coffee. In fact, most never even saw a donut during their service in-country.
However, we recently discovered a news story that reveals the probable origin of this misconception. In World War II, the Red Cross was asked to charge for donuts and coffee by the U.S. Secretary of War. It appears this didn’t last long, but the story has continued for decades. Please listen to or read the story in the link below to learn more… Free Donuts?
I constantly heard this criticism and told the true story when working for Red Cross in military hospitals. I explained the reason then and am happy to see this in print. It continues to haunt the Red Cross.
On the few occasions that I came in contact with Donut Dollies it was all at forward firebases. LZ Grant, LZ Buttons, LZ Fort Compton. Never once were we charged for donuts. Most times there were no donuts. But seeing a “round eye” was a beautiful sight. And for a few minutes we were transformed away from the horrors we faced everyday to the warmth and comfort of being able to talk to someone from “HOME”. I haven’t talked to a Donut Dollie since leaving Vietnam in 1970. But I have a short statement and picture of two dollies in the book I just finished writing. Book name is “All I Ever Wanted to be Was a Soldier”. Book is available on Amazon.com
My dad was laying on a stretcher in Japan after contracting malaria in Vietnam when they tried to charge him for a donut and coffee. He still resents the Red Cross to this day. Why does the organization keep insisting this was only a WW2 phenomenon?
I was charged for a donut from the Red Cross at Tan Son Nhut AB in August 1966.