Search the site:  
National News Video
Top Jobs
Science and Technology
Headlines   |   mouseover panels to open
World
Nation
State
Local
Subject:
Recipient:
Sender:
captcha aba82c432bff4b82b42b1fe542cc0d45
Enter text seen above:
Stressed troops take out frustrations on Dang-it-Dolls
5/12/2008 12:21 AM   1 comments on this story E-mail this story to a friend

By SUSANNE M. SCHAFER
Associated Press
CAYCE -- A South Carolina grandmother has become a worldwide sensation among stressed-out U.S. military men and women by sending those rough-and-tumble folks the most incongruous of gifts: pliable, google-eye dolls.
Not that soldiers, Marines and airmen are doing much cuddling with her hand-stitched, foot-tall playthings. Carol Davis' "Dang-it-Dolls" are built to take punishment from homesick, frustrated troops and her work is getting rave reviews.
"The legs are shaped so you can grasp onto them," Air Force Staff Sgt. Rachel Staub wrote in a recent e-mail recalling her homesick days based in the United Arab Emirates. "It returned with me to the States with an eyeball missing and the stitching around the legs loose with some of the stuffing coming out."
The little doll "was used mostly for laughs and to keep my mind off being homesick," said Staub, of Melbourne, Fla. "It brought a smile to all our faces!"
Nearly 17,000 of the goofy dolls have been shipped around the globe in the four years since Davis made her first one and sent it as a joke to her grandson, who was in the Air Force then in Aviano, Italy.
"I thought it would get a rise out of my grandson, 'Why are you sending me a doll?"' Davis said. "But after I sent 'em, I got messages back: "Can you send us some more?"'
Davis's grandson, 26-year-old Senior Airman Thomas Hagmaier, estimates he's given out between 1,000 and 1,500 of the dolls on his own.
"Everybody around me asks for one," he said in a phone interview from his base in Little Rock, Ark. "And I tell them, even if they destroy one, that's what it's for. I can give you more."
The foot-tall figures are made during periodic gatherings of military spouses, college students and friends who form assembly lines in Davis' garage in this small city outside Columbia. Piles of dolls covered tables and bookshelves. And boxes ready to be mailed to Afghanistan and Iraq were stacked high.
Each doll is decorated at the whim of its maker. Patterns are cut out of fabric ranging from checked gingham to fuzzy fur. Yarn often sprouts from the top of the doll's head and smiles or stuck-out tongues are dabbed on with craft paint. A few take on military dress code and colors.
Davis formed a non-profit group to absorb the costs, with shipping being the highest expense. Most of the supplies are donated, she said.
Davis said she hopes the dolls are used to counter the stress of far-flung deployments for troops.
"They have to be always on the edge, always on the ready. We know the hard transitions they have to make," Davis said, holding aloft one of the dolls. "And if these little fellas make them smile, that's great, too."
Army Staff Sgt. James Borchardt said that when tension rises in his tactical operations center in Iraq, he grabs his doll by the legs and beats the stuffing out of it.
"It made me laugh more than anything," he said in an e-mail. "I gave them to almost everyone in my unit."
Borchardt, an Essex, Md., native in Tikrit on his third deployment, said he first got a box of 100 dolls in the summer of 2005. His latest shipment numbered 300 since so many of his comrades wanted one.
"I was getting requests throughout the deployment," said Borchardt, who has been in the Army five years. "I am honored to get these dolls."



Share this story:

                           


Comment on this story
Comment Title:
Enter your comment here:  
Your Name:
captcha 9a60f0035143434fbb6975e5c7cb5a50
Enter text seen above:
 
  1 comment(s) on this story

How to contact us :  5/12/2008

This project means so much to the men and women that receive the dolls. A question we are always asked is "can I buy one?" The answer is NO. They are in no way for sale. They are only for our military men and women and are given freely and with love to those serving our country. If you would like to be a part of the project or would like more information, please contact us at Operation Military Stress Relief Dolls, Inc. P.O. Box 3356 West Columbia, SC 29171 Email is: OMSRD@yahoo.com I have worked with Carol for three years on the Dang it Doll project. I sit on the Board of Directors for Operation Military Stress Relief Dolls, Inc. Respectfully submitted, Laurie Stokes Operation Military Stress Relief Dolls, Inc.

Laurie Stokes
Special Sections View all special sections
Medical Minute brought to you by ARMC
Just for Fun
Entertainment
Bookings
Obituaries
Births
Science and Technology
copyright 2008 Aiken Standard, All Rights Reserved.