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. She grew up in the idyllic 50s –  she rode bicycles, hopscotched and watched Saturday morning cartoons. She recalls the Cold War unfolding around her: Alan Shephard, 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 SARO-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 attached to the 173rd Airborne at Cam Ranh Bay, the 101st Airborne at Camp Eagle, and at An Khe.  Her duties were recreational – it was the goal of the Donut Dollies to get the soldiers’ minds off the war.  They flew to firebases in the LZ’s to conduct one hour programs that included trivia and games and other activities.  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.