LA GRANGE — The famous “Donut Dollies” kept many soldiers from getting too homesick as the Donut Dollies brought a little bit of home to their hearts in the heat of the battlefields. Donut Dollies were a popular name for the American Red Cross Volunteers serving in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, in a group known as the Supplemental Recreational Activ- ities Overseas program.
These women boosted soldiers' morale by providing recreational programs in remote and dangerous places like forward operating bases (FOB) in hostile territory.
Their presence gave the troops a sense of normalcy and comfort.
Volunteers were college-educated women who chose to take time out of their lives where they served in Great Britain, Europe, Korea and Vietnam.
Joyce Rice Denke, of Temple, became a Donut Dollie after the death of her fiancé, seven weeks after he deployed to Vietnam. She earned the prerequisite college degree and joined the Red Cross Re- action Program in Vietnam. Den ke chose the hostile Vietnam over the less hostile environment of Korea. With two weeks training, she entered Vietnam and served from 1970-71. Although known as Donut Dollies, this group did not serve donuts. In Vietnam, in remote locations, it was too hot and humid for a good donut. They flew out in helicopters to remote firebases and put on programs for the troops. Often coming under fire, Denke would put on a helmet and flak jacket. She could have stayed in the rec centers behind the lines, but that was not how she saw her need to be of service.
During her tour, four Donut Dol- lies died in Vietnam.
Denke was honored at the Texas Heroes Museum in La Grange on Sept. 20.
