American Legion member Donna Dear, among the first women to be stationed in Vietnam, shares her story during Memorial Day ceremony in D.C.
Retired Army Sgt. Major Donna J. Dear was among the first women to be stationed in Vietnam. She started her journey wearing her Class A green court uniform, walking in high heels and carrying a purse.
“I looked at that aircraft that I was getting ready to board, a Continental Airline, and I looked around and all I saw were combat boots and fatigues,” she remembered. “I was the only woman on that aircraft going to Vietnam.”
Dear shared snippets of her journey during the May 25 Memorial Day ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, an appropriate venue for her as the theme of honoring women veterans echoed throughout the day. In Vietnam, she worked in combat service support dealing with personnel administration tasks such as communications, logistics, supplies and more.
“We worked 12-hour shifts,” recalled Dear, a member of American Legion Post 77 in Easton, Md. “We were called upon during the nights, too, to chaperone the Vietnam women who were being interrogated. And after those sessions, we returned to our unit and got ready for work the following morning or later in the morning.”
She was in-country from January 1967 through August 1968.
“Needless to say, we endured,” she said. “We were a strong group of women who were there. We did not think about being afraid, being nervous, because we had a job to do. And in that job we had our fulfillment.”
Dear’s return trip home to Ohio was in parallel to when she left the States.
“Again, I was the only female on that aircraft, with all these soldiers to protect me and others aboard,” she recollected. “When we got airlifted and we were out of range, you could hear the whole plane give a sigh of relief. When we finally landed in the United States, I never saw anything like it in my life. The soldiers came off the plane and kissed the ground because they were so happy to be home. I did not kiss the ground because I know how the germs are on there, but I was so happy to be home.”
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Photos by Henry Howard. Photo 1: Ret. Sgt. Maj. Donna Dear, one of the first 45 women sent to Vietnam and a member of Maryland American Legion Post 77, spoke during the ceremony. Photo 2: A member of the United States Marine Corps band sounds Taps. Photo 3: Sons of The American Legion National Commander William Clancy, American Legion National Vice Commander J.D. Larson and American Legion Auxiliary VA&R Chair Lisa Chaplin place a second wreath at the Vietnam Women’s Memorial. Photo 4: A handwritten note at the foot of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial remembers Diane Carlson Evans, founder of the memorial, who died on May 20, 2026.
Jim Knotts, the president and CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation, served as emcee. In his opening remarks, he noted the recent passing of Army nurse Diane Carlson Evans, the founder of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial.
“She was a proud Vietnam veteran,” he said. “I am proud to have worked alongside Diane since 2014. Her every thought during our conversations and meetings was about remembering and honoring all Vietnam veterans. In our last conversation, she shared the conviction that they are Vietnam veterans first, and women veterans second. And that their contributions are more about service to country and their fellow servicemembers than about their genders.”
American Legion National Vice Commander J.D. Larson noted the prominent role women Vietnam veterans played.
“It’s long overdue,” he said. “Some of those women who did all that work to get us through World War II is kind of helping that movement too. And I was proud as we stood before the women's memorial for Vietnam veterans today.”
Larson led an American Legion Family group during Memorial Day ceremonies at the wall. They laid a wreath, and later proceeded to do the same thing at the nearby women’s memorial, where tributes to Evans had been left.
Sons of the American Legion National Commander William Clancy and Lisa Chaplin of the American Legion Auxiliary also participated in the ceremonies.
Larson, who began his Coast Guard service in 1969, reflected on his high school friend, Ray Fritz, who was killed in Vietnam.
“The Vietnam War had such an amazing impact on Americans, whether it was positive or negative,” he said. “I think one of the good things that have come from the wall is that we were able to reduce a lot of the negativity. They keep saying the wall that heals and I think there's a lot of truth to that. I personally did not go through those negative feelings. I always supported the warrior, like we used to say, hate the war, love the warrior.”
Chaplin, a member of Colonial Heights Unit 284 in Virginia, is eligible for the ALA through her late father, John Thomas, an Army veteran during the Korean War era.
“It was very moving, as expected,” Chaplin said. “It's always very moving to visit any of the monuments and memorials, particularly so on a special day and with the special speakers. Visiting the women's memorial was particularly meaningful because of the passing of Diane Carlson Evans just a few days ago, as she had spearheaded the foundation that established the monument. It was nice that she was remembered with a handmade sign and some flowers.”
Retired Air Force Col. Michael Brazelton, a four-time Silver Star recipient who survived 2,402 days as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, was the keynote speaker. Instead of focusing on his long captivity, Brazelton spoke of honoring all who served, were held captive, or remain missing, as well as remembering the fallen.
“Although we remember the fallen today on this Memorial Day, we can best honor them by living lives, the lives that they were denied, and conducting ourselves with integrity in daily service to our country and its ideals.”
- Memorial Day