Diane Tucker helped bring touch of home to GI’s in Vietnam

Editor’s note: This is the fifth in a series of Vietnam War stories shared by Manatee County residents in conjunction with the PBS documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick.

They were young, single, college-educated civilian women, volunteering in Vietnam to bring a touch of home to homesick American troops.

Officially, they were part of the American Red Cross’s Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas program. But the GI’s they entertained with games, snacks and sodas called them “Donut Dollies.”

Diane Tucker of Palmetto was one of about 100 Donut Dollies serving in Vietnam from March 1970 until February 1971.

“My family thought it was wonderful. My mom and dad were proud of me, but they were anxious about my time in Vietnam. I didn’t tell them I had to run for a bunker a few times,” she said recently while reminiscing about her Vietnam experiences at her home in Palmetto.

Part 1: Rome plow driver scarred by intense combat in Vietnam’s ‘Iron Triangle”

Part 2: Palma Sola VFW post commander served with heroism in Vietnam

Part 3: He fought two wars: Vietnam and the war within

Part 4: Palma Sola VFW veterans remember their Vietnam service

“I grew up in Joliet, Mont., a town of about 350, graduated from high school in 1965 and from Montana State University in 1969. I could hardly wait to get out and see the world,” Tucker said.

When she heard about the Red Cross program in Vietnam, she knew she fit the bill.

“You had to be a college grad, you had to be over 21 and you had to be single,” she said. “I felt I had to go. I felt we should be there to support the troops.”

“I had no idea what to expect, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The troops were great,” she said.

She was stationed at Qui Nhon from March to June 1970, Camp Eagle near Hue and Phu Bai from July to October, and Cam Ranh Bay from November 1970 to February 1971.

At the invitation of local commanders, the Donut Dollies would travel in pairs to as many as eight fire bases a day.

“We would be at each fire base about one hour and would put on a program like a quiz show on TV,” she said.

“We would also visit hospitals and be invited to dinners and dances, and to change of command ceremonies,” she said.

Tucker would seem to have been fearless in going to Vietnam, but says she did not consider herself brave – at least at the time.

Communications between troops in Vietnam and their families in the United States were primarily by letter. It could take up to two weeks to get a response to a letter, helping to underscore the importance of Donut Dollies in providing a reminder of home.

In all, 627 women served as Donut Dollies during the war.

“There were four Donut Dollies who died over there. One was murdered by a G.I., one died in a Jeep accident, and one – I knew her – had some kind of a muscular disease and it happened very quickly, and a fourth died while helping with the adoption of Vietnamese babies,” she said.

“When I came home, I didn’t talk about my time in Vietnam because it was so unpopular. It’s only been recently that people have wanted to hear about it,” she said.

After her time in Vietnam, she got a job in an Army service club in Germany, where she met her future husband, John Tucker, who was assigned as a lieutenant in a tank unit in 1972. They were married in the United States in 1973.

Her husband John is a pharmacist and owned a drug store in Idaho before becoming a financial adviser for Edward Jones. Diane later followed him into the investing field.

“For the last 18 years of my career, I was a financial adviser with Edward Jones here in Bradenton,” she said.

John Tucker never served in Vietnam and honors his wife’s service.

“She cares about other people more than anyone else I have ever met in the world. She puts everyone else ahead of herself,” he said.

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 1:34 PM with the headline "Diane Tucker helped bring touch of home to GI’s in Vietnam."