Dorris Heaston was born February 2, 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland.  Her parents were German Jewish refugees who emigrated in 1938, with her father going to the US and her mother going to England.  Her father served with the American 12th Armored Division during WWII, and her mother experienced the London Blitz.  Dorris grew up in the idyllic 50s –  she rode bicycles, hopscotched and watched Saturday morning cartoons. She recalls the Cold War unfolding around her: Alan Shepherd, Sputnik, Khrushchev, and the Cuban Missile Crisis – but those events did not worry her too much.  Between her sophomore and junior years at college she visited Europe and made a contact who told her about the Red Cross’s SRAO (Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas) program, which involved serving one year in Vietnam. Dorris graduated and received her SRAO-ARC training in Washington DC, which consisted of immunizations and military and Vietnamese history.  She arrived in Vietnam on February 1, 1969, and she recalls that she was not prepared.  Dorris was assigned to Red Cross units at An Khe attached to the 173rd Infantry Brigade and Camp Eagle attached to the 101st Airborne Division.  It was the goal of the Donut Dollies to get the soldiers’ minds off the war with mobile recreation progams that included trivia games and other activities. They flew to firebases and LZ’s (landing zones) by helicopter to conduct the one-hour programs.  Dorris said that the men treated her well, and that she felt safe – even in the war zone.  Dorris married a soldier she met in Vietnam, and he elected to make the military his career.  The two of them were stationed on bases around the world as they raised their family and found their place in post-Vietnam America.  Crestwood students were able to interview Dorris over zoom in May 2025.