After arriving in Ho Chi Min City, Dorset and Mary sat down for their first interviews in Vietnam at the Continental Hotel Saigon to discuss their experiences of serving as Red Cross Donut Dollies over 46 years ago. This began 2 weeks of extensive travel and filming in the cities where they had been stationed. Stay tuned for more photos from our documentary trip. (all photos taken 02/28/15)
In mid-March we returned from our 2-week filming trip to Vietnam, and following this once-in-a-lifetime journey we took a break to recharge our batteries. We’ve started to review the many hours of film footage and numerous still photos, which documented Donut Dollies Dorset (Hoogland) Anderson and Mary (Blanchard) Bowe on their first trip back to Vietnam in 46 years. Big thanks go out to Angeline Herron for taking these 3 photos. We hope you’ll follow our postings to see the story of this special trip unfold.
Photo 1 – Donut Dollies Dorset and Mary’s plane arriving at the Ho Chi Min City Airport
Photo 2 – Dorset and Mary pushing their luggage cart through the airport lobby
Photo 3 – Dorset and Mary waiting for their van with our documentary’s producer, Jess Hill. As soon as they arrived in the Ho Chi Min City airport, they were both given wireless microphone and filming began. (all photos taken 02/26/15)
Mary and Dorset (in their vintage uniforms) were warmly welcomed at Bob’s Café American in Tuy Hòa, Vietnam. They were both very moved by this gesture, and enjoyed some terrific BBQ!
We are a little over a week into our trip to Vietnam with the Donut Dollies and things are going very well. We’ve met some wonderful people – both Vietnamese and ex-pats – who have been very welcoming and helpful on our quest. We’ll be sharing more photos in the days to come.
While in Nha Trang, Mary and Dorset spoke with a friendly local women in their attempt to locate the villa where the Donut Dollies lived. As this trip is about locating history, they found that sometimes what you’re searching for isn’t on a map, but locked deep within memories. Our journey of discovery continues…
With the first couple days of filming completed, here’s a first look at Donut Dollies Dorset (Hoogland) Anderson and Mary (Blanchard) Bowe on their first trip to Vietnam in 46 years. The first photo shows these longtime friends in Nha Trang and the second shows Mary meeting the local wildlife in Dong Ba Thin. The last photo shows Norm on his birthday as he receives his birthday cake from his mother (these mother and son smiles are priceless). In case you were wondering, happy birthday translates to chúc mừng sinh nhật in Vietnamese. Please check back to see more photos as this once-on-a-lifetime trip continues through Cam Ranh, Cu Chi, Nha Trang, Pleiku, Qui Nhon and Tuy Hoa.
We’re sharing this photo, because it clearly captures a special moment for everyone in the photo. It was taken somewhere in or around Cu Chi in 1968 – 1969, with Donut Dollies Dorset (Hoogland) Anderson and Julie (Pence) Van Matre, and the soldier appears to have the name patch of “Cole”. What’s interesting about this photo, is that on the left side of the background appears to be a damaged bridge with a group of soldiers looking on from the other side at this Donut Dollie photo-op.
