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R E S O L U T I O N
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WHEREAS, Joyce Eilene Rice Denke of Riesel, who served with |
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the Red Cross during the Vietnam War, has been featured in the Waco |
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Tribune-Herald as one of its Voices of Valor; and |
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WHEREAS, Ms. Denke was a young woman engaged to be married |
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when her fiancé, a soldier from Fort Hood, was killed in Vietnam; |
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three years later, in 1970, having worked with VISTA and having |
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earned a degree from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, she |
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joined the Red Cross and volunteered to go to Vietnam herself, to |
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give something back to the military in honor of her fiancé; and |
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WHEREAS, In Vietnam, Ms. Denke served with the Red Cross |
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program known as Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas as a |
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recreation worker, or "Donut Dollie"; during the program's seven |
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years of operation in Southeast Asia, 627 young women worked with |
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the SRAO in that capacity, spending six days a week on duty, |
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interacting with an average of 280,500 service members each month, |
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and logging more than two million miles in jeeps, trucks, and |
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helicopters; over the course of her year with the program, |
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Ms. Denke helped to boost the morale of combat personnel at landing |
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zones, hospitals, fire-support bases, and other locations; she |
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served six months at Cam Ranh Bay with the marines and another six |
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months with the army and air force at Da Nang; and |
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WHEREAS, After returning home, Ms. Denke served in the Red |
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Cross for another seven years and then took a job with IBM in Waco; |
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it was there that she met her future husband, Dewain Denke, whom she |
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married in 1979; in the years since, she has been featured in a |
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documentary film, A Touch of Home: The Vietnam War's Red Cross |
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Girls; and |
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WHEREAS, Through her bravery, compassion, and dedication, |
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Joyce Denke brought a friendly face and a touch of home to members |
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of the United States armed forces during a desperate time, and her |
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fellow citizens owe her a lasting debt of gratitude; now, |
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therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 84th Texas |
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Legislature hereby honor Joyce Denke for her exemplary service to |
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her country as a member of the Red Cross and congratulate her on her |
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recognition as one of the Voices of Valor by the Waco |
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Tribune-Herald; and, be it further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be |
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prepared for Ms. Denke as an expression of high regard by the Texas |
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House of Representatives. |