November 19, 2024
Terre Deegan Young
One Woman’s Vietnam War Experience
Featured Brewery: Mountain Toad Brewing
Introduction by: Former Golden Mayor Marjorie Sloan
Golden’s own Terre Deegan-Young will discuss some of her experiences during service as a Red Cross volunteer assigned to Vietnam in the 1970s.
Questioned often about why a woman would “volunteer” to go to a war zone, Terre explains how the turbulent 1960s and her family values led to a life-changing decision to join the American Red Cross as the conflict in Vietnam unfolded.
Terre will describe the military’s request at the time for American Red Cross to design a new, more mobile program for bringing a “touch of home” to soldiers fighting in combat zones. Through pictures coupled with humorous and heartbreaking stories, Terre will talk about her very personal experience during her yearlong tour of duty.
She also will address her return to the United States and the problems presented for re-entry to “normal” life. Very similar to most other returning Veterans from Vietnam, the reception received was far from welcoming.
Terre Deegan-Young was raised, along with 6 siblings, in a suburb of Chicago in the 1950s. After college graduation and joining American Red Cross, she was trained to be a mobile recreation specialist. Nicknamed “Donut Dollies,” a holdover from World War II, they created and conducted diversion programs for American soldiers in the field.
They flew daily on helicopters to remote firebase locations where they were able to visit with hundreds of men that didn’t have access to “the rear.” She returned to Vietnam for 6 months in 1974-1975 before the fall of Saigon to work with a Denver adoption agency.
Terre began speaking of her war experience at the request of Regis College’s Center for the Study of War Experience. She has served for a decade on various Regis discussion panels available to students as well as the public where fellow Veterans share their personal experiences. Terre also has spoken to Veterans organizations and a variety of local groups.
Speaker Bio:
Terre Deegan Young
Terre has a BS in Social Work from St. Louis University. She received her Masters Degree in Counseling from University of Colorado Denver. Upon graduation, she began a 21-year career with the Colorado School of Mines as a Licensed Professional Counselor. She has lived for 50 years in Golden, where she raised her family with her partner and best friend, Frank Young.
How This Works
The Buffalo Rose will open at 6:00 p.m. Food and drink service will begin at 6:00 p.m. and the program will begin around 6:30 p.m. Following the presentation, we’ll take a brief intermission for Q + A. We’ll wrap up around 7:45 p.m., but people interested in staying a bit longer to socialize will be able to do so. There is no cover charge and no purchase is necessary.
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