(3) Based on Red Cross estimates, around 
280,500 servicemen took part in these recreation 
programs and the women, affectionately known as 
‘‘Donut Dollies’’, traveled 27,000 miles by jeep, 
truck, airplane, and helicopter every month. Red 
Cross officials estimate that, during the seven years 
the program was in operation, the women logged 
over 2,125,000 miles. The first SRAO unit opened 
at Danang in September 1965. Others quickly fol-
lowed at Bien Hoa, Nha Trang, Cam Ranh Air 
Force and Army bases, Dian, Quang Tri, Phu Bai, 
Lai Khe, Dong Tam, Qui Nhon, Xuan Loc, and 
more. In all, there were 28 SRAO unit locations 
throughout the country. 
(4) Military commanders expressed high praise 
for the Red Cross volunteers, calling the services of 
the organization ‘‘indispensable’’ and ‘‘prime fac-
tors’’ in their efforts to maintain the high morale of 
their men and to look after their welfare. Writing to 
Red Cross national headquarters in 1968, General 
William Westmoreland, then commander of the U.S. 
forces in Southeast Asia, stated, ‘‘Serving our men 
on the battlefields here in Vietnam, the American 
Red Cross is a hotline to the folks back home, an 
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oasis in the heat of battle, and a comfort during 
hospitalization.’’. 
(5) These Red Cross volunteers shared with 
military personnel the hardship and privation of life 
in a war zone and were subject to the dangers of 
war. Many staff were injured. Five American Red 
Cross workers died in-country. Three of those were 
women, Hanna E. Crews, Virginia E. Kirsch, and 
Lucinda J. Richter, all of whom were members of 
the SRAO program. 
(6) The Donut Dollies volunteered to be sent to 
the frontlines to support servicemembers directly en-
gaged with the enemy during the Vietnam conflict. 
The extraordinary efforts of these volunteers 
throughout the extent of America’s involvement in 
the Vietnam conflict is deserving of official recogni-
tion. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZATION.—The Speaker 
of the House of Representatives and the President pro 
tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrange-
ments for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of 
a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration to 
members of the Red Cross Supplemental Recreational Ac-
tivities Overseas (SRAO) program, also known as the 
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‘‘Donut Dollies’’, who served honorably during the Viet-
nam conflict. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 
devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec-
retary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
it shall be available for display as appropriate and 
made available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 
make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 
available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 
appropriate locations associated with the ‘‘Donut 
Dollies’’. 
(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the 
Congress that the United States Mint should expedite pro-
duction of the gold medal under this Act, so that the serv-
ice and sacrifice of ‘‘Donut Dollies’’ volunteers can be rec-
ognized and honored in a timely manner. 
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SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 
items. 
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 
SALE. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 
this Act. 
(b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 
4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 
Enterprise Fund. 
Æ 
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