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Doughnut Dollie: Suzanne Fortune

Donut Dollies were Red Cross volunteers who served in Vietnam, bringing comfort and morale-boosting programs to troops in combat zones. Though not officially part of the military, they formed strong bonds with soldiers, often receiving unit patches and in

February 26, 2025
Meet Suzanne G. Fortune (Shoemaker), she joined the Red Cross to support our troops in Viet Nam where she formed life-long friendships as a Donut Dolly.
On returning to the US Suzy was accepted to Stanford and Berkeley law schools but chose to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father by serving our country. She attended USAF Officer Training School in 1973 (and also later received an MA from Berkeley.) Despite her petite stature, she earned respect with her intelligence, professionalism, and sense of humor—warm at times, sharp when necessary.
She had a distinguished 24-year career as an Air Force officer, retiring as a full Colonel in 1997. Primarily a Logistician, she served as a Group Commander, Operations Commander, and Squadron Commander. She served a tour as a Political Science Instructor at the Air Force Academy, and had worldwide duty stations that included Turkey, Hawaii, and Germany. Her final tour of duty was in the US European Command (USEUCOM) where she was responsible for logistics, transportation, and humanitarian aid during the Bosnian conflict and the Rwandan genocide relief mission.
After retirement, Suzy worked for the Center for Civil-Military Relations at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, CA, conducting global initiatives to strengthen ties between civilian populations and a country’s military. She also served as an NPS instructor in graduate level Comparative Politics and, more recently, as Executive Director of the NPS Foundation.
A beautiful and athletic woman, Suzy was always active.
Suzy died from complications of ALS in 2017


In this memory collage of Suzanne’s time in Vietnam, you can see many items that meant a lot to her.  At the top center is an artistic photo of Suzanne with a tangle of barbed wire superimposed over her image, to the right is the red boonie hat that many Donut Dollies enjoyed wearing in-country.  The booklet marked 1971 is her American Express Military Banking passbook, along with a couple pair of dog tags and a peace sign necklace.  Plus, there’s over 25 pins she received from units she visited, which are affixed to the flap of a Claymore Mine bag.