Dolly Parton, the country music singer whose six-decade career made her one of the genre's most recognizable voices, died August 25 in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80.
President Donald J. Trump ordered American flags at public buildings, military installations and U.S. territories to fly at half-staff in her memory.
According to an Army statement, Parton supported U.S. military members and veterans for more than 50 years. Her involvement began in the early 1960s when she dated a young Nashville man serving in the Army National Guard. She married Carl Dean, who completed his service, in 1966. The couple remained married for nearly 60 years.
In 1991, weeks after soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, returned from Operation Desert Storm, Parton visited the base. "I've got an all-American heart," she told Vanity Fair.
On Veterans Day 2003, Parton released "For God and Country," an album pairing patriotic standards with original songs, including one written for a parent waiting on a son deployed overseas. "We can't give them enough praise and honor and thanks," she said of veterans and service members.
In September 2004, the 134th Air Refueling Wing painted Parton's likeness onto a KC 135 Stratotanker and named it "Miss Dolly." She signed the artwork and performed for the airmen and their families. In April 2005, Parton hosted a broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry partnered with the War Department's "America Supports You" campaign, with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld appearing onstage. The American Forces Television broadcast reached 177 stations worldwide and included a live feed to Baghdad.
Beyond military performances, Parton founded Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, a literacy program that mailed free books to children in her home county of East Tennessee. The program was inspired by her father, who never learned to read or write. Nearly three decades after its founding, the library's Washington state affiliate partnered with the Government Employees Health Association on a $15,000 grant to expand free books to military families. In Cumberland County, North Carolina, home to Fort Bragg, every baby born at Womack Army Medical Center receives an Imagination Library book at birth and a new one every month until age five.