By Gordon Williams  

When crowds gather in Normandy, France, on June 6, 2024, to observe the 80th anniversary of D-Day, they will be honoring the troops that stormed ashore that day. They will also see a reminder of the illustrious role the American Red Cross played in World War 2.   

Young women by the hundreds, called Donut Dollies, are well remembered for donning Red Cross uniforms and driving Clubmobiles to serve coffee and donuts to American troops.

This year, a brand-new Donut Dolly Museum will celebrate the wartime service of these women, including Martha Owens Williams, mother of Red Cross volunteer Christy Gunderson-Meadows of Olympia WA.  

A November 2023 story I wrote for the Red Cross told how Christy opened a footlocker, long-stored in her garage, to find a trove of souvenirs from Martha’s wartime service--uniforms, boots, pictures and more.

One relic was a map that traced Martha’s wartime travels, keeping pace with troop advances across France and Germany. The story described Martha’s Clubmobile, the “Dixie Queen,” an Army two-and-a-half-ton truck outfitted with coffee urns and a donut-making machine.  

It turns out that story was merely the first chapter in a saga that brings us to the 2024 D-Day observance and opening of the Donut Dolly Museum in Carentan, France.  

Since then, and because of that publication, several connections have been made - starting 20 years ago when Pennsylvania lawyer, Tim Fleming took his to France for the 60th anniversary of D-Day. There they met a local guide, Alain Chesnet, now owner of Overlord Tours in Normandy. “We have remained good friends for the past 20 years,” Fleming says.  

It turned out that Alain learned of our original story shortly after it was published. He was already well aware of Martha’s exploits. In fact, he had actually located Martha’s Dixie Queen Clubmobile and restored it to running condition.

An idea hatched. Alain thought, why not return Martha’s souvenirs to France? He could reunite them with her Clubmobile and put them on display in the museum he was planning to open in time for D-Day.  

Alain contacted his old friend Fleming who tracked me down as the author of the story. I put him in touch with Christy, whose discovery inside her mother’s trunk had started it all.   

In the end, the South Puget Sound and Olympics Chapter of the Red Cross agreed to donate Martha’s wartime stuff (and it's new decorations) to Alain and his French museum. In return, the museum picked up the $1,300 cost of shipping everything from University Place to Normandy.   Today, everything of importance from Martha’s collection is now in France, ready to go on display alongside the original Dixie Queen, restored and running again in time for D-Day. 

Christy says she was invited to travel to France for the event, but felt the trip might be too taxing, “I was told if I came to France I would be allowed to drive a victory lap in the Dixie Queen,” she says. “I may do it yet!” 

Beyond all the strange and wonderful connections that made this story possible, there is another connection that must be noted. June 6th is the anniversary of D-Day — the day for the formal opening of the Donut Dolly Museum. June 7th is widely celebrated as National Donut Day.

So when you savor a donut on National Donut Day, think of those intrepid Red Cross volunteers who risked life and limb to keep America’s fighting men well-stocked with coffee, donuts, and good cheer.