Judy tries on a jet crash helmet for fun before taking off. Assistant is 1st Lt. George Holdcroft, L-19 pilot. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
This article first appeared in the Stars and Stripes Pacific edition, April 12, 1959. It is republished unedited in its original form.
Even though she had never been farther away from home than Minnesota, Judy Haag of Greendale, Wis., has been travelling plenty since last October.
Then she joined the American Red Cross as a Clubmobile girl and was assigned to the unit at Ascom Area Command headquarters in Korea. Since November, Judy like the 50 other Red Cross Clubmobile girls, has traveled thousands of miles by Army truck, helicopter and light plane.
It’s the job of the Clubmobiles to visit isolated Army units and present informal recreational programs. The girls work in teams of two and visit about five outfits a day.
They start work about 7:45 a.m. and wind up about 5 p.m. On Saturdays, the girls get together in their unit headquarters and plan the programs for the coming week.
In addition to the Ascom unit, there are Clubmobile units at the 1st Cav. Div., 7th Inf. Div., I Corps (Gp.) Arty. Each has about 10 girls.
Most of the time they travel by three-quarter-ton trucks. To save time getting to remote areas, though, the Army generally provides air transportation for the girls. This way, an 80-mile run which would ordinarily take a whole day can be made in less than an hour.
Th girls at I Corps even go by helicopter to one unit. It’s a Signal Corps radio relay station perched atop a 5,000-foot mountain.
The smallest unit that the Clubmobile girls visit is the Inchon Harbor signal tower group. It consists of just four men from Hq. and Hq. Co. of the Inchon Port and is located on Wolmi-do Island.
Judy Haag (left) and her teammate Roberta Casey put on a quiz show at Wolmi-do harbor signal tower. Participants include Pvt. Phillip Graham, SP5 Stuart Reese and PFC James Weisel. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Quiet hour of relaxation is enjoyed by Judy in her quarters of the Ascom Area Command. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Shy Korean children eye Judy as she photographs them in a village near Seoul. Photography is an off-duty hobby. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Katherine Seymour, like other girls, travels hundreds of miles by truck and plane. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Gift of china, for a friend back home, is selected by Judy at Ascom Area PX. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Janet Day is one of 50 American Red Cross Clubmobile girls visiting field units in Korea. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Jean Clish’s fur-lined parka is an indication of the active outdoor life of girls. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Ruth Luhman, program director of the Clubmobile unit, (left) and Daisy Leedy help Judy clean mud off boots. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
Myra Halpin, head of the Ascom Area Command Clubmobile unit, takes message. (Hank Simons/Stars and Stripes)
All of the Red Cross girls like Judy are specially selected for duty in Korea. They must have attended college, be of top character and at least 21 years old.
The girls are given two weeks of training in Washington, D.C., before being assigned to a unit.
The Clubmobile program began in Korea in 1953 right after the truce was signed. Then the Department of Defense requested the Red Cross to provide some recreational service to troops who would be in duty away from the regular recreational centers — up on the DMZ, in the field on training problems or at remote security outposts.
The answer was the Clubmobile Service, which is carried out nowhere else in the world.
Somewhere along the line the Clubmobile girls got the nickname “Doughnut Dollies,” because they serve coffee and doughnuts as part of their hour-long program. Actually, most of their time and energy goes into preparing the stunts, skits and games which they present in mess halls and day rooms across Korea.
The programs aren’t intended to be polished entertainment. Few, if any, of the girls are accomplished musicians or artists. It’s merely their aim to get the men to relax for a few minutes of informal fun that will help relieve the routine of Army training and duty in Korea.
Proof that their efforts are appreciated came last winter when week-long trains turned the roads up in one of the division areas into a brown sea of gumbo. A Red Cross unit head called the various units to inform them that because of the Condition Red roads, the Clubmobiles wouldn’t roll that day.
The first sergeant at one of the units was silent for a minute. Then he had an idea.
“What if I sent a jeep down, ma’am?” he asked. “I know it could get through.”
The Red Cross girl told him that this would be all right and that she’d have the doughnuts ready when the vehicle got there. There was no hiding the tone of disappointment in the man’s voice.
“Shucks, ma’am,” said the sergeant. “It isn’t the doughnuts my men want, it’s the girls.”
