Montgomery County woman served her country both in Vietnam and at home

NORRISTOWN, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Paid Sponsor Partnership: Philadelphia Corporation for Aging

Chief Master Sergeant Bobbie Trotter retired after a 30-year military career in the Air National Guard.

Trotter made E-9, which she says is "the top rank that you can make as an enlisted person."

"Very few people make 'chief,'" she says. "And to be a woman to make that is pretty remarkable."

She first served her country in 1970 when she joined the Red Cross, volunteering to go to Vietnam.

"My all-time favorite picture," she says of herself in uniform standing between two soldiers.

The women were dubbed "Donut Dollies" by the military they served.

"Red Cross Donut Dollies had to be 21 to 23 years old, college graduates in excellent health," she says.

The program was called Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO).

"The whole program actually started with World War I with the Salvation Army," she says. "And they had little donut making machines and coffee machines and they went to wherever the guys were."

The women brought a touch of home to the faraway soldiers.

"The mission was morale," she says. "We were supposed to be the sweetheart that was left behind, the sister, the girl next door."

Trotter says they would play games with the troops and sit and talk with them.

"It doesn't sound like a big deal, but morale is extremely important in war," she says.

Trotter says she signed up because she wanted to travel and serve her country. Her first assignment was in Qui Nhon. Next, she went to Bien Hoa.

She says they joined military units where requested, and those units would support them in terms of transportation and protection.

She was in Vietnam for a year. She says she served what they called "a combination," going out three or four days a week for Clubmobile.

"You would be out into the field, fire bases, advisory camps," she says. "We flew in helicopters, rode in jeeps."

She says other days you would be in a big center, "sort of like a USO club."

"My third tour was in DaNang," she says. "We took a lot of rocket fire almost every night."

Through it all, Trotter says they put on a brave face.

"It's just what you did," she says. "My dimples hurt at the end of the day."

Trotter says the Red Cross Donut Dollies had an understanding that "it was dangerous, and we accepted that."

"I'm just so proud to be among those women," she says