Circle of Sisters/Circle of Friends Collection

A Circle of Sisters / A Circle of Friends is a coalition of civilian women who served with various organizations in Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. These women worked with organizations such as the American Red Cross, Army Special Services, the USO, CIA, USMD, and the United States State Department in direct support of U.S. soldiers and allies in Vietnam. Established in 1996, the idea for the collection came about after Jolynne Strang and Cathleen Cordova, both of whom served in Vietnam, gathered information on civilian women who had lost their lives during that conflict. Strang and Cordova also organized a national ceremony to recognize all women who had served as civilians in Vietnam and to honor those women who had died. The first ceremony was held on November 10, 1993 at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 'The Wall,' in Washington, D.C.

Between March 1973, when most U.S. soldiers left Vietnam as the result of the Paris Peace Accords, and April 1975, Sally Vinyard was the housing chief for the U.S. Defense Attache Office. She played a crucial role in evacuating more than 25,000 South Vietnamese and Americans as Communist troops advanced on Saigon