The North had Hanoi Jane…but we had Chris Noel
I was doing some research on a case and ran across her story more than once. There might be one or two youngsters that remember “A Date With Chris”.
Chris Noel was a Hollywood sex symbol who became a Vietnam War icon. She was a model who turned actress – who then turned to entertaining the troops in Vietnam. Noel worked on the Armed Forces Radio And Television Service. Her program “A Date With Chris” made her fondly known by vets as “the voice of a California dream girl” by many Viet vets – while her pin up pics were very popular with the troops.
Noel entertained four tours of Vietnam and her helicopter was shot down twice. For her work, she received the Distinguished Vietnam Veteran award in 1984 from the Veterans Network.
It seems to me that she gave up the better part of an acting career to support the fighting men in Vietnam. She has a remarkable story to tell. She has a selfless courage that is all too rare.
For those of you that might have known her you can walk down memory lane HERE.
Category: Historical, Veterans in the news, War Stories
She is a remarkable woman. I have a copy of her autobiography “A Matter of Survival” in my book collection. It is highly recommended:
https://www.amazon.com/Matter-Survival-War-Jane-Never/dp/0828319030/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1539604374&sr=8-1&keywords=Chris+Noel%3A+A+Matter+of+Survival
Shot down twice and still pressed on? ‘Remarkable’ just doesn’t cut it. I knew Aircrew who experienced a helo crash, and found employment elsewhere.
But she never had to evade sniper fire the way an unsuccessful candidate for POTUS had to do…
Unlike Brian Williams….
Probably shot down by those dreaded VC “anti-aircraft mortars” that Al Gore wrote about.
She is still alive.
God bless her.
Holy shit she’s a gorgeous woman. Shot down TWICE and pressed on? Brass Ovaries yo.
Amazing woman with an amazing story to tell…I’ll have to get the book mentioned above.
Wow, what a Lady!
Amazing. What a genuine warm looking smile. You can tell from that look and her actions that she truly cared for the troops. Compare that to a bitter mugshot of Fonda during the same era.
Let’s not forget that caring woman Jan Spann
who went out in the bush and cared for the troops.
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=73591
‘Ole “Medevac Jan” will now claim that she was the first to hop off a Huey to treat the wounded wearing hotpants and go-go boots, and that Chris Noel was just copying ‘ole Jan’s Viet of the Nam fashion style…
How about Martha Raye.
Miss Martha was given the rank of Lt. Colonel and membership of the Green Beret Special Forces unit were both honorary. The entertainer was also an honorary Colonel in the United States Marine Corps. She was an LPN and voluntarily assisted with the wounded when she was not entertaining the troops.
I met Martha Raye in July 65 at NKP, and all she wanted me a cook to make was a American cheese sandwich with mayo. What a Lady.
Great story John. I read about Martha this morning. She sounded like a legit BAMF
I was on mess duty at the 3rd Mar Div Headquarters Mess on the airbase at Da Nang late August or early September of 1965. Mid-Afternoon, we were cleaning the mess hall between meals when “Colonel Raye” and her group came in. They set up their musical instruments and gave about a half-hour performance to maybe about twenty of us. Most of the younger guys there didn’t even know who she was. I only did because I was a big fan of the old movies shown on late night television in the 50’s & 60’s. What a great lady.
Ex; Got a long email from one of my shipmates awhile about Martha but It’s gone now and I was going to comment on your above comment but I was still dilated from my visit to the eye doc today. She is interned in the same cemetery with other Green Berets.
I never heard of her.
I guess the MSM silenced her story, while making countless documentaries about the anti-war movement during that time period.
Wow, I didn’t know women could be that hot back then. Some of her pictures are amazing.
You think sex appeal is a modern invention? Words fail me…. what an appropriate alias.
You work at the intel school, don’t you…
No wonder the press never talked about her, they were too busy talking about that Hanoi Jane bitch! I can’t wait to piss on her grave!!
Maybe they will bury her and Hillary side by side?
……..Scissoring for all eternity
Imagine the s(t)ink hole that will create in the ground.
How fast will the grass die, and how wide of a radius will be rendered barren by the toxicity? The Chernobyl disaster was less ecologically poisonous than Das Hildabeast!
It will save me the price of that second quart of beer…
That would be good because I would only have to buy one plane ticket instead of two.
I do not remember seeing anything about this lady, and it’s probably because all the news stories about Vietnam were about the war itself. II didn’t have a TV, either, so no way to keep up with such things.
But she seems like someone we should remember. And I’d prefer to remember her far and above that swamp creature from LaLaLand.
Thanks for the story, Dave.
Got to meet her the day after Christmas ’66 in Di An while waiting for a chopper to Lai Khe. She and MG DePuy were on their way to make the rounds of the 1ID AO and they stopped to say hello to those of us at the pad. For the life of me I can’t recall if we saluted the CG or not.
I’m sure you “saluted” her though, correct?
Wow. I had not thought of that.
So people back then had to memorize a girl, and then go to the bathroom and do the salute using only their memories, instead of using their phone to watch a video while using cream and Kleenex.
Remind me never to borrow your phone…
Uh, SLowJoe is more than a little slow these days. Since there were cell phones back in the 1960s, never mind anything but film cameras to record something, then – no, nobody went into the latrine and jerked off to the sight of a digital image. They didn’t exist back then.
Please do let us know how much moronic you can be, SlowJoe.
Read it again–slower.
In the immortal words of Jimmy Carter, I have lusted in my heart.
Great memories. It is a shame I sometimes forget the very things I think at the time I never will. Thank you, Ms.Noel for all you did and gave to us.
Chris is a real sweetheart! Had the honor of meeting her in the early 1980’s in Louisiana. One of the first Welcome Home ceremonies sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program (VVLP). It was sponsored and funded by the Reagan Administration. Some cherished photos with her somewhere in my archived files.
Chris Noel was before my time. All I remember of AFVN were those happy jingles about how you should keep your weapon clean because preventive maintenance was your friend…
Same here, before my time. Not wanting to belittle her accomplishments as a morale booster and all around good girl, but I’m not buying the report in the media (and repeated many times thereafter) about her helicopter being shot down two times.
Cannot find on either the Viet Nam Pilot’s or Crew Members sites any references to her, and in an interview with HistoryNet from ten years ago when she was asked directly about it, here’s what she had to say:
Q: Did your helicopter ever come under fire?
A: I only remember one very serious time in a helicopter, while trying to leave a mountaintop. One other time the hydraulic system went out in a helicopter and we went down. That was pretty scary.
Q: Were there any close calls on the ground?
A: Being in places that were being mortared, maybe three times. And ground fire – maybe twice.
Haven’t ever read her book to see if she says anything about being shot down twice, so YMMV as to whether the shootdowns ever really happened or was just some journalist’s way of “juicing” up the story.
Like I said, not wanting to be a naysayer, but I’m thinking Hmmm, No on the reported shootdowns.
Good point, Claw. Dunno about you, but I keep looking at the photo of Noel and the fat puppy, and wondering how the dog wound up with a round-eyed starlet instead of an ARVN stew-pot…
Well those are Marines in the background of the picture, so I’m thinking that no Marvin the ARVN would have enough balls to try and take a pooch from them.smile
Semper Fido
The American fighting man will go to great lengths to keep ahold of pink nosed sweater puppies.
Cared more for the troops and their morale than for her career? She probably gave up at least part of her career to care for the troops? Who does hat except someone who has genuine love for those in uniform. I am genuinely impressed. Good for you, lady. You’re a class act.
Wow. Chris Noel. Didn’t get top listen to too much radio, but I sure remember the name. And the voice (I think). I never got to meet her, but I did get to meet Ron Ely (Tarzan) once. Lucky me.
Since Vietnam was before my time, I had never heard of Chris Joel’s story. Thanks for it, and especially the pictures – that was one fine woman.
After thinking about this story for a little while last night, I wonder if she was the girl that Poetrooper talked about a while ago when we were talking about Round Eye Donut Dollies.
Remember he said all of a sudden out of nowhere this girl showed up and we were all like “WTF was that all about?”
What’cha think, Poe? Could this be the same girl?