Donut Dolly: An American Red Cross Girl's War in Vietnam

Chapter 6 Bring a Case of Beer

147 ✚ Chapter 6 ✚ Bring a Case of Beer Saturday, October 15, 1966, Di An, South Vietnam Maybe it was my country-girl upbringing. Maybe it was because I had to live up to my father’s job as a school superintendent, but I never saw it coming. I was abducted. The 1st Infantry Division had acquired their nickname, the Big Red One, during World War II. Their motto, “If you’re going to be one, be a big red one,” left me wondering if I should blush. The 1st Infantry Division had arrived in Vietnam just one year before, in October 1965, and only one month after the 1st Cavalry.1 Six girls made Di An a large Red Cross unit. Dee had a black puppy, Sam; Peggy had a white puppy, Horatio. When I opened a door, I never knew when one of them was going to explode to greet me. Our house, a spacious, new, permanent building, had a cement floor and screen and louver sides. It sat in a comfortable area in the shade of a grove of trees. On my first workday, Linda, the unit director, taller than me, gentle and modest, led me down a short path and then a few yards along a gravel road to the recreation center. Excited, I anticipated my new assignment and the adventures it might hold. My heart beat a little harder and a little stronger than usual. I would have never guessed the surprise that waited for me. Linda and I rounded a bend, and I caught 148 Donut Dolly my first sight of the Di An recreation center, a faded, old canvas tent shaped like a Quonset hut. I understood why this rear area made do with hand-me-down equipment: combat requirements took priority. An entrance flap as wide as the tent, rolled up out of the way, made an opening big enough to drive a truck through. I had never seen a tent like that. It might have been a maintenance tent. Inside, water stains around the windows and on nearly every seam showed its battered history , like wrinkles on an old man’s face. The just-passed rainy season had revealed this to be a canvas sieve. A huge, new, permanent recreation center under construction a few yards away made the division’s apologies for the current sub-standard accommodations. The unfinished, framed walls outlined the building on a cement pad. But for the time being, we crammed ourselves into the Di An girls. Top: Peggy (with Horatio) Brook, Joann, Dee (with Sam). Seated: Linda, Eileen. Army Public Information Office photograph. Bring a Case of Beer 149 sad, ancient tent. I saw round tables inside, ringed by lawn and folding chairs. The tent held an overflow of GIs, but why did they sit in silence? Why did they stare at one corner near the front? Could it be? Yes, it was. That center had a television, the first one I had seen in five months. My eyes grew wide, and I smiled. Apology for the small, fragile tent accepted; I stepped closer, careful not to block anyone’s view. The men watched a football game, oblivious that a new Red Cross girl had arrived . I scanned the rest of the tent. Then one team scored. The men exploded in a cheer. The TV camera caught a shot of the band as they struck up a fight song, and my heart skipped two whole beats. I jerked my head around to lock my eyes on the television. I knew that song. Hail to the Victors . . . Twin base drums filled the screen. The block letters on the drums spelled out MICHIGAN. I froze in shock and surprise, and then a wave of fond memories overcame me. I could see the stadium, the bowl of 101,001 focused fans on a warm autumn day. Interior of the Di An Recreation Center tent. Water stains are around the windows and seams. 150 Donut Dolly Visions of a recent past merged with the crushing heat of this faraway land. I watched my school, the University of Michigan, play football on television in Vietnam. I strained to see more, and I stood there for a long time. I suddenly understood why the guys loved football. The men sat there, in the middle of the war, as if they watched the game at a friend’s house back home...