Good Night, Irene

I heard the author, Luis Alberto Urrea, interviewed on NPR, and after listening wanted to read his latest novel Good Night, Irene (#1,179).  It's loosely based on his mother's service during WWII as a Red Cross volunteer.  These intrepid women were trained to drive GMC trucks equipped with coffee urns and donut making machines.  They followed the troops into combat areas, supplying hot coffee, donuts and, most importantly, smiles and news from home to the men and boys a long way from home.  Service could be dangerous, but it was important enough that General George Patton asked the "Donut Dollies" as they were nicknamed, to accompany him and bear witness to the horrors of Buchenwald concentration camp.

Though this is, of course, a novel, it is based on the true services provided by the Red Cross during the War.  I found it hard to put down as the story follows the exploits of the three-woman crew of the Rapid City Clubmobile.  Irene Woodward from New York and Dorothy Dunford from Indiana each have their own reasons for wanting to volunteer, but their experiences on these mobile units together create an indelible bond.  Through training, a hazardous crossing to England, and transfer to the Continent, the girls on the truck encounter romance, places they've longed to see and, most of all, work, work, work with an unceasing smile on their faces.  They, like the men they see at their Donut Dugouts, wonder if they will survive to make it home.

This book reminded me in many ways of Fannie Flagg's wonderful novel The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion (See my post of 5/22/2014.) in which she highlights the World War II service of the WASPS, women who flew planes from factories to military bases to free up male pilots for combat.  The so-called "Donut Dollies" are another group of unsung heroic women supporting the troops on the front line.  Until I heard Mr. Urrea on the radio and read his book, I had no idea such a service had even existed, let alone how much morale boosting they provided where most needed.  You'll come away from this book admiring the spirit and sacrifice of these women.  Highly recommended.