“What a joy it was just to see a hometown girl.” – Harold Oakley, chopper pilot in Vietnam 1966-67.

They were called Donut Dollies, but a more apt name would have been the Doris Days – the girl-next-door flying halfway around the world after graduating from college to spend a year in Vietnam visiting homesick grunts longing to see a hometown girl.

Forget the doughnuts.

“We never did serve one doughnut,” says Dorset Anderson, a Donut Dolly in 1968-69. “The name came from World War I when the Red Cross gave them a coffee machine and doughnut maker, and called them Donut Girls.

“Our job in Vietnam was to serve up some laughs and smiles – try to get the war off their minds for a few minutes, and bring part of home to the guys out in the boonies, as they called it.”

They didn’t have Skype, cell phones, internet access, or laptops for email and instant messenger to stay in touch with loved ones back home. They had mail call. That was it until the Dollies arrived.

Odds are you probably never heard of them, most people haven’t. But thanks to a documentary soon to be released by Los Angeles filmmakers Norm Anderson (Dorset’s son) and Jess Hill, the Dollies will get the recognition they deserve.

They weren’t drafted. They didn’t have to go and put themselves in the middle of a war zone, driving their parents crazy with worry. They were Doris Day dropping by for a visit. Not for a few Christmas shows. For an entire year.

In all, 647 sharp, young women – all college grads – served from 1964 to 1973.

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after graduating from college, but what was bothering me a lot was the fact I had no idea what this war was really about,” says Anderson. “I went to an Army recruitment center and volunteered to go to Vietnam for a year to see if I could understand.

“They said it would have to be a commitment of three or fours years, but gave me a tip to go to the Red Cross, and sign up for its Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas program, the Donut Dollies. I did and was accepted.”

Six months later, she and 30 other hometown girls were on their way to Saigon, and soon whisked off by Army helicopters to Cu Chi base camp, where the 25th Infantry Division had its headquarters.

“What a privilege it was to transport the Dollies to the outlying units,” recalls chopper pilot Harold Oakley. “These flights were so eagerly sought after that the pilots drew straws or flipped to see who would win.”

The Dollies came armed with board games and TV quizzes to play with the men, but they knew their real value was just being themselves – hometown girls.

“They’d show us pictures of their wives or girlfriends, and let us read the letters they’d received from home. Some were uplifting, some so sad. They were so courteous to us and grateful we had come all this way to see them, putting our own lives in danger.”

More than a few times, the Dollies had to retreat to underground bunkers as the Viet Cong unleashed a barrage of incoming fire into the base camps they were visiting, Anderson says.

She never did get that question answered – what the Vietnam war was all about. None of us did.

She came home, met and married Norman Anderson Sr., and settled down in Stockbridge, Massachusetts – longtime home of Norman Rockwell – to raise two children and get a job as a social worker.

Her son, Norm, a Silverlake resident, went off to college, and called one day to find his mother in tears. The locker in the shed containing all her memorabilia from her year in Vietnam had suffered major weather damage. Its contents inside were ruined.

“I’m flying home, mom, don’t touch a thing,” Norm told her. He bought a video camera to film his mom opening the locker, and, on and off for the next 20 years, they traveled around the country together to meet other Donut Dollies, and film their stories for the documentary, as well.

Five years ago, she and her college friend, Mary Blanchard – also a Donut Dolly – went to Vietnam with Norm and Jess to film many of the villages the Dollies had visited.

“Growing up, I never knew my mom had been in Vietnam, or even heard about the Donut Dollies,” Norm says. “I think the first time she mentioned it was when she went to the dedication of the Women’s Memorial in Washington. D. C. in 1997.

“That’s when I realized my mom was someone very special, and that the story of the Donut Dollies and their service in Vietnam was one that more people in this country should know about.”

For more information on the Donut Dollies and updates on when the documentary will be available, go online to donutdollies.com.

Dennis McCarthy’s column runs on Sunday. He can be reached at dmccarthynews@gmail.com.