American Red Cross Stories and Art -
NOTE: This page is NOT officially assocated with ARC, though it Author is lifelong helper, small and great, paid and vounteer.
A REDCROSS NOTE ABOUT NOW - REDCROSS.ORG is a great Covid-19 resource. They are helping with a range of response needs at “ground zero” locations all over the country and their Blood Services is helping with Plasma collection. Respose is helping the people - visit the site for details - as always RED CROSS IS HERE FOR US.
The Hurricanes of 2004 and Redcrosslady Safety and Fundraising Issue
Since Nineleven, Patriotism and RedCross response have become popular once more...a beautiful thing to see in our town, our country and our world! People have been enthusiastic to help response groups in any way they can ! This, too, is a great thing to see again, and to be praised and encouraged. If you are considering becoming any sort of on-site volunteer, you might enjoy this short 'pros & cons' note:
I would do it again in a minute, but, when I was younger in it, I had one "post-response" friend I would greet with a cheery/inane, "We cudda' bin killed!", after a "moment". He would respond with the typical male "look", and both of us enjoyed several split-second "deprogrammings", in addition the organizational report time. Compassion response involves investment and risk. I mention this because we have been so blessed in the response from orgs and private individuals, and especially since nineleven, the beautiful heartwarming stories can lead one to forget the "practicum".
If you are being helped or thinking to go and help...definitely think. "Three weeks minimum" is currently being asked from volunteers, for that reason. Be sure you are up to it, first. Orgs like Red Cross will also provide medical and security checks, passes, and temporary insurance, in addition to the usual tempjob paperwork. The mode is pleasant, helpful and dynamic but response work is serious business. Bring your smile, but not a party hat. Manners are usually good and appropriate. The project takes care of many, but not all expenses; extras are your expense, so have money with you for them. Meals at Restaurants, incidental expenses that would be considered part of doing the job right, are usually reimbursed later. Fun during breaktimes is encouraged, for good morale, and lifelong friendships are sometimes won; good morals are encouraged, since liberalities can give a bad impression of redcross response and its workers. Response work couples have found popularity for this reason, though the freedom to run to the rescue is often associated with singles and "career-types".
Newscoverage on Hurricane Ivan, yesterday, reminded me of this aspect of response, and you are invited to check the redcross site for the latest published statistics and honors and preventions and care issues .
At Ivan response sites, Winds can blow hazards at Redcross workers as easily as at those they are serving. Stepping in a puddle of floodwater to reach a victim, can be the last step on earth for the response worker who fails to note that a live wire has fallen into the puddle. Even the liberal hugging often must be deferred till later, since exposure to communicable diseases can be the issue. Looters do not always respect the famous insignia, invented for that very reason. The military personnel you saw on television, in notes about the looting problems, are also deployed when need be, to escort and protect Red Cross and other response personnel. People in crisis are sometimes distraught or in a health state that threatens the safety of the Response worker, and some have five medals for valor in compassionate response, but five karate belts, as well, "just in case".
Please don't volunteer to help if you "wannabe Rambo"...such an approach would only endanger your helping partners, the victims, or yourself. Today's Rambo knows that response must be responsible; "the rules" are what saves response from adding to the disaster, no matter how "hangloose" it might look on tv. Before the response is done, nearly every action, every donut, every penny will be accounted for, because non-profit organizations are required, by law, to account for expenditure of the funding gifts of labor, time, and materials of rich and poor, few and many.
These notes come from my own experience and training: I was impressed with the organization / preparation / support afforded me, when I was able to do on site work. "Keys to City" have been the norm from areas receiving ARC Workers, and we were trained to appreciate all sides of this issue.
With all this in mind, we leap to serve... Ask anyone... it is the spirit, humanity, creativity through the crisis, good humor, courage, integrity, warmth, welcome, co-operation and appreciation on all sides, that validates the awesome life experience that is being a Response Worker, and empowers them to be there when it matters.
Putting the "Fun" in "Fun-draising"Few have missed the calls for funds to help repair storm damage, actual and collateral. But who says fundraising needs to be grim? For example: A few years back, some normal citizens, artists, were in a restaurant, chatting, wishing they could help with redcross money needs, during the latest crisis, when one of them smiled: "We're artists, we can get artistic! " They took up the tablecloth in front of them and with the tools at hand made a "very modern" work of art of it, and then stood up right where they were and began the fundraising. The idea clicked and I think it won a million dollars before it was done.They called it a quiltmaking project... :-)....and it became known as" the signature quilt ", pictured at right. The need for "justplaincash" is staggering this time....if you can get creative for redcross, please do! The big online auction companies do, and the idea has filtered with big success to individuals. Run a private auction online one evening! It's fun easy and usually successful...auction anything, among your own mailing list....there is a five-minute bit of paperwork to be done, first, to protect, legally. Ask Redcross for the forms. You can probably receive it in an email, print it, sign it and fax it back. If you do the project online, exclusively...no phonecalls...just keep a folder with all related emails and documents, and then ,when you are done, you will have a very tidy, complete written record, with mimimum toil to make the required tallies for accountability. Gifts are tax deductable, as are some of the costs to the fundraisers, in time and money. You can get publicity on it, or not...it's up to you. But, again, if you can , "please do!". Helping feels good !...elle
Preparedness Data & Stories from ARC service:
Redcross & Disaster Response ~ Worker Safety Issues
Redcross Notes / affiliates ~ Iraq / Middle East
Redcross Story Nineleven
Redcross Story ODS
Redcross Story Vietnam
Partnership ~ Redcross & Military ~ Brief History
Preparedness
"But I don't wanna get into Preparedness !"
"Why do they do it?" For those being helped.
Patron Saints for Aid in Distress
Helping Links:
Elle Fagan Happy to refer, share comment, correct an error, and chat if I can. Attack and spamming go to the law, so do think before you write me.
American Red CrossThey "just do it" when it is most needed!
Hurricane Categories Defined and MoreA loved one lives in Hurricane Alley, so I like to keep this one handy.
Weather.gov Start page to National Weather Service and NOAA for Weather-related concerns
Weather.comA little less official, and easier to use for some, and helpful addition
White House Online, 911 and local Civil Defense Contacts, online and off, on radio and television offer helps in many other threatening situations...
more to come...visit again soon!
Comment and Praise in the Special Times: President Salutes the Military, Veterans, and Response Organizations
White House, The East Room
For Immediate Release March 28, 2003..... 2:44 P.M. EST
"...I also appreciate all the veterans are doing for America's military families in time of hardship. I appreciate your compassion. Across our country, local chapters of the American Legion, for example, are stepping forward to help those families in practical ways, from making household repairs to helping with child care. Members of the VFW and Auxiliary are sending care packages with baby supplies to military families. Operation Uplink Program is helping thousands of service members keep in touch with their loved ones.
Both the American Legion and the VFW are working with the U.S.A. Freedom Corps on a project called On the Home Front. This effort will match Americans who want to volunteer their times and skills with the military families who need help. Because of all this generosity, our men and women serving overseas will know that their loved ones are not facing this time alone.
Source:http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/iraq/news/20030328-6.html
Praise and Invitation to Visit
My headline says that this is not an offical RedCross site because Redcross must protect its work in all respects to do its job right. Still, this is a good page, and a quick reference to more serious links, and shares insightful thought. I was amazed, myself, exploring the Redcross.org site, and urge all to "stop in"...
Don't wait for a disaster to find Redcross ! It is full of History, great images, stories, links for specific questions, forms, statitistics and, of course, the more familiar American Red Cross Subjects: response, blood services, education, and gifting. Enough to entertain and inform all afternoon!
You can also link to your local Redcross Chapter, or a Chapter near endangered loved ones. Redcross can help if you can't find out if they are ok. Red Cross is there ! And a significant portion of the outright gifts to afflicted families are never repaid. Whatever your feelings about fundraising, give to Red Cross! As one who has been there a little bit with them, did up the helping forms, I must say I was impressed, especially by average "savvy" grownup standards.
A Disaster Shelter Story
with the thousands evacuated to shelters, this memory may be a fine one to share:
After some stateside help with ARCODS, it felt easy to do a little bit in my community, and when a blizzard in my Connecticut hometown on the Harbor threatened to flood homes on the beaches, I helped with a local evacuation shelter. If Florida's shelter people are as kind, and well set up, as we devoted ourselves to being, no one needs to be especially concerned .....once the fears were in line, Fairfield's First Selectman at the time, Jacky Durrell arrived... our popular "Duracell".....she had her own wealth....and gifted us with some of it, "ordered up the pizza" for all occupants of the shelter, staff and those being served....when Domino's Pizza delivered that day, the delivery person needed to stay at the shelter, too , for a bit, to recover from the size of the order! It took some of the edge off the tension, and saved the helpers some "food prep". And gave us a "left-handed blessing" memory to share later.
This kind of "save the day" act is very human, and I'll bet that I could already make another page, here, just full of such stories. In fact the Red Cross site and this one do post such stories...they invite and welcome them...such stories merit sharing, and do a lot of good. So please feel encouraged to submit them !
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RED CROSS SERVICES ON THE WARFRONT IN IRAQ
Since military action began, the AFES(Armed Forces Emergency Services) staff have endured up to a dozen scud and chemical/biological alerts. Although the armed conflict in Iraq began just days ago, the first American Red Cross staff on the contingency team supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom arrived in Kuwait on January 25, 2003, when they joined three AFES workers already on the ground. Since their arrival, they have handled 3,390 cases involving 9,555 emergency communication messages. Sixty-seven percent of the cases have dealt with illness and death of family members; 12 percent are birth announcements. We are seeing an average 20 percent weekly rise in cases, and expect that to increase."
Source: redcrossnewsletter march 21,2003
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My First American Red Cross Story
- Fort Knox, Kentucky 1967
I am at present an American Red Cross volunteer, among other things...temporarily inactive, while my priorities level out. I am still mending from a thing myself right now and so have time to palaver and reminisce. I have always held a "side suit" in helping work, just always, and enjoy it. And after my experiences, I believe more strongly than ever that everyone should get CPR and First Aid Certifications.The classes are easy, fun and not expensive. Even if one is "not inclined to heroism", exposure to the skills could save the life of one we love, and upon calling 911 in a crisis, as we all do, we could say: "I had my CPR...but am not any good at such things,... if you talk me through it, I will do what I can." The first seven minutes in the case of loss of heartbeat or breathing make the life and death difference. My loved ones are worth it, and I am sure yours are, too!
The Story:
It was 1966, and my brand-new lieutenant husband and myself were new at Fort Knox Army Base, South of Louisville, KY, USA. He was getting his first officer's experience at "Home of Armor", and soon to be sent for his time in Vietnam. The Officers' Wives stayed busy at the crowded base, contributing in community services of one sort or another but all of it was new to me. I opted for Red Cross work.
Fresh from convent schools, at nineteen, I had seen little outside the social in the Northeast. I served a single ward made up of Vietnam casualties, some of them new to the hospital, and there due to the new-at-the-time MEDIVAC projects: getting wounded safely and quickly to hospitals in America , after battlefield stabilizing actions. The ward I served was all male, and some of them had been there for a few years, receiving laborious skin and bone grafts (the hospital specialized in orthopedics).
Each week I became more impressed with the situation, and the people involved. Everybody has fun with the color purple, but in those days, it was the lavender blue of sheets permanently stained with tincture violet, used to dress burns at the time. I became bemused sometimes, because the men echoed corny John Wayne movies with the ward spirit of rough and ready affability and camaraderie, and good nature, in spite of pain and suffering without letup... sometimes for years in some of their cases.
Visiting the patients on the Ward to make myself useful involved calls to families, errands for this and that for the bedridden, sometimes just conversation, and other times, staying clear and giving them plenty of 'space.'
One of the men signaled to me one morning, and I moved fast, since, with purple sheets, limbs in slings, and teeth wired shut from jaw injury, if he called, as difficult as it was for him, it was important. When I reached his bedside, he signaled more than spoke that he needed help with some paperwork, always paperwork, no matter what! I reviewed it, then I dropped everything ? the papers were college application forms!!!!!
If anyone can define "winner" better than that, I would be happy to hear about it. Anybody can do it when it's easy!!!
The word "COURAGE" makes people bashful, even when it's the right word.
At Ireland Army Hospital,easy to feel anti-war, anti-guns, just from the little I saw of their work? I referred to my Red Cross work as "peace without the pot," in days when the movement for peace was crowded with people smoking marijuana. My husband won his sharpshooter medal in service and I used to love being a fine shot with darts and "b-b-guns" as a child. I am lucky in family and friends, and some of them are NRA, and I support their belief, and their rights to their beliefs. But for me.... after that,"No."...not a squirt gun on my premises. No big noise about it, just "No".
My husband and I were expecting our first child soon, and in those days, especially with a first baby, that meant off duty from hospital work with the ARC for a while. When I told the patients in my ward that the day would be my last with them, and told them why?... pandemonium!!!!! Cheers for the baby, and for me, and a wheelchair instantly tucked under me, till I blushed!
What a rich day!
Maybe that first, fine experience is why I still love to serve as I can. E.S.F.
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ARCODS'90 - Group Five
All my peer were doing "Swan Songs"...those of us who'd helped in other areas, after Viet Nam, under the redcross flag, or otherwise, found it not so hard, if we were fit for it, to heed the call when Carly Simon advertised on TV for ARC volunteers.
Our group was in training at Fort Sam Houston , Texas, when the truce was declared, happy at the peace, knowing that it would not be the end of the problems in the Middle East, and feeling oddly "all dressed up, and no place to go."
The image below was done on a scrap, on my Grandmother's front porch, waiting for paperwork to go through on my departure from my hometown, Fairfield, Connecticut.
I was goggled at the company ...the fellowship of this particular ring was pretty impressive...the real-life Indiana Jones, one of the active WWII Radio Free Europe-type war communications specialists...lifelong Red Cross Administrators, among others...most of them had hero stars plain and fancy. It was the first time I realized, fully, that the response work I'd done all the years, was , indeed, often more than the "Arts/Mommy" stuff that I called it. Things had been so intense for me, there was not time to ponder.
It was also my first opportunity to really learn more than Clara Barton about the Red Cross...I was boggled at the money spent to help, quite a bit of it with no special hope of repayment.
I learned a lot about correct counselling and service to individuals in the private sector and the military.
I also took training in stress management again, and coping with stress-related intake problems that I might confront.
I learned a great deal about the Corporate Structure of the group, and specifically those branches with involvement in the Middle East. I learned some new Middle East Cultural information, especially protocols and customs relating to women, and the extra precautions that should be taken, to assure effective helpingwork on the trip with no incidents.
...and even a little Arabic!
"Asalamu!" ...the "aloha" and "kawa"..."coffee!" are all that I remember now... but the experience and the energy and rightminded ness in demanding situations later, I will never forget...or the fellowship!
Old Den Mothers 9-11-2001
"Old den mothers never die, they just always know when Flag Day is!" - elle fagan
Benched from all volunteer or athletic work due to injury, I was putting it together again and enjoying a healing time.
I had continued with local response work, and did a little at the local office of my new home town.
But when the office had to upgrade preparedness for Y2K, I was not up to it, yet, so had my tears, and got out of the way.
I bought a television, a cute one , the first I'd been interested in owning in years. My college and prime work is in arts related, and so I was spending time with the local arts group, developing the art to support me, as planned all my life for midlife and after.
I owned the tv/vcr for less than a week on the morning of September 11, so got happy about the convenience of being able to click into the morning news.
my smile disappeard, and I became confused, thinking that I was seeing the latest in Japanese animation....it certainly could not be real.....but it was.
A few miles from me, thousands of people just died! My daughter and her fella could see ash from acroos the sound.
OK...what to do?....I was relieved to find that my feelings were sound...I was "invalid-ed out" and would stay out of the way. I would use my training to observe, as I strolled the neighborhood on my daily walk....just in case.
The dominant mode was one of respect, and heeding the Presidet's advice to keep as normal as possible, but...
Friends and neighbors ran to comfort those they knew had family at Ground Zero.
A few blocks away, my church passed the basket ...$11 thousand dollars, in one pass...which, at once, went to relief for the WTC people.
Redcross friends from my town loaded truckloads of supplies packed by our schools and other groups, and flags and candle vigils in the streets, with prayers and wishes in all belief systems filled the air, to purify it from the stunning horror.
There were not too many tears...our part of the world sunk suddenly and profoundly for a moment, like a great ship in a sudden and violent storm....the feeling of the will being overruled, inarguably.
I like to serve, but did not know I could love like I loved my country and its people at that moment.
The flags went up and the interest in helping, from those who just don't, under normal circumstances.
I passed Amerbelle each day on my walk, and noticed that their flag was placed so that it became soiled and having done some art with them before, stopped in to leave a note about it to a friend there. We met, and chatted, suddenly remembering the plant processed fabric, and had once woven the fabric for war uniforms as far back as the Civil War....it's waterfall was lovely, still, though no longer the source of hydroelectric power that it once was. Who could make a truer flag!
Corporations take months to change a door lock....but the flag, pictured below was there in 72 hours...it might have been less, with spotlights for evening show, yet placed discretely enough to be acceptable for permanent display.
Industrial art is popular here in the Northeast US, where American Industry began. Although many major corps expanded out to othere areas with pleanty of space for growth, the old buildings are history and remodeled for offices, condos or specialty manufacture.
I do some fancy private stuff with my art, and always did, but that flag project will always be my proudest project.
Preparedness: It is part of our responsibility more than ever, today!
There is no reason to be lacking for a thing in the event of disaster, whether it be information, training or merchandise.
Visit The American Red Cross Online, or
Government websites, from the White House Online to Homeland Security, to your State and Local Government websites.
They are very well organized and full of neat, easy to follow links to help you.
But these things are advised, to start:
Keep and check on good contact information with your family or immediate associates, or care support persons/orgs.
There is nothing unusual about the wisdom of making certain that special medical or care needs of any sort are seen to.
Plan and prepare in co-operation with your local guidelines ...
but DO discuss it with your people, and PLAN your needs .
THE COMMITTMENT TO RESPONSE WORK IS A FUNNY THING.
If you have no inclination to get into preparedness and need to make yourself comply with homeland security and civil defense directives, do not be unhappy with yourself.
The bio-medical research people will soon help with this, with a report on which hormones and DNA attributes incline a person to Red Cross work, and other interactive and response things, including parenthood and marriage.
Nurture as well as nature has a lot to do with it. My parents and now, my children tend to the altruistic as, at least, a volunteer activity. Mother did, I did, and my children do and have done. My parents were the most idealistic in community involvements and helping work, and even a touch of the self-seeking in such activities was considered a flaw..."If it were given a man to see virtue's reward in the next world, he would occupy his intellect, memory and will in nothing but good works, careless of danger or fatigue." -St. Catherine of Genoa
such was expected of them, and of me, as I helped while growing up in their home.
With such beautiful example, I was permitted to do some fancy things in such foci, but often fell ill till I learned the Compassion & Intellect balance.
If response work is done correctly, there is a rewarding feeling and some good done, and a general celebration of the best of the human experience. If a person suffers in the acts of helping, the instinct is to leave it or become jaded and self-seeking in it, the pendulum having been swung by misfortune to the other side of the case.
Like most, my part of it has involved the need and ability to resolve such conflicts regularly, and my marriage to a man who made medicine for a firm whose money was set up "non-profit" for the healing, was perfect for me. His death did damage to my balance where this concept is concerned.
Neverltheless, Our daughter brings it to par, with no problem being hired and fairly paid for her work as nanny, with autistic children,and now with The American Cancer Society.
It is my function and destiny to be the one to wrestle with it and negotiate, the generation between my beautiful Mothers's "high-flying-bird-ness" in it, and my daughter's clear pro, effective, healthy path in it, without abandonment of the compassionate message that motivated her to begin with.
I has been my unavoidable politicking on it that has been my delight and downfall...but my daugher's achievement give me a smile in it, even when I am at an impasse of pure frustration and futility in it....more later..:-)
Patron Saints for Red Cross Ladies, and those they serve:
The ARC site tells about Saint Filomena portrayed valiantly in one on its famous Tiffany Stained Glass Windows, as its special patron, and the Patron Saints indes shares a complete profile of Filomena, the miracle-worker and aid in time of civil distress.
This Patroness protects against natural disasters:
Saint Agatha ~ after her martyrdom, her veil was used as an icon to prevent volcanic eruptions.
Details about the following List of Saints who protect against storms:
* Agrippina
* Barbara
* Catald
* Christopher
* Erasmus
* Florian
* Gratus of Aosta
* Jodocus
* Our Lady of Zapopan
* Scholastica
* Thomas Aquinas
* Urban of Langres
* Vitus
* Walburga
AMERICA'S MILITARY AND THE AMERICAN RED CROSS PARTNERSHIP
This list does not include ARC Disaster Response providing lifesaving aid, food, shelter, cash and counselling, for the millions impacted by fires,earthquakes, floods and Terrorism. It does not include Blood Services and Large-scale Community Outreach. It is the list of Response in Wars. Find more about these topics at Redcross.org. The American Red Cross has a long history of providing service to member's of Americaís military and their families in times of war. In more recent history, that service is provided during conflicts, peacekeeping, peacemaking and humanitarian operations. Beginning in the mid-1800s the organization's founder, Clara Barton, risked her life on the battlefields of the Civil War to tend to fallen soldiers. The services she gave were ìpilot activitiesî foreshadowing the great volunteer services later provided by the American Red Cross to members of the armed forces, veterans and their families. Barton nursed the wounded, wrote letters from wounded soldiers to their families and exerted every effort to get the critically ill and wounded to or near their families. She helped to keep the morale of the troops high. In 1881, Clara Barton founded the American Red Cross. The organization of the American Red Cross culminated the cooperative efforts of warm-hearted Americans ñ relief efforts that had been foremost in Clara Bartonís thoughts and activities since 1861 when she began to learn the ìtrue face of war.î
Spanish-American War. The Spanish-American War of 1898 was the first time the American Red Cross provided services to members of the American armed forces at war. When the United States declared war on Spain, American Red Cross President Clara Barton, age 76, traveled to hospitals recruiting nurses to work for the Army at medical camps in Florida and Cuba. Clara Barton, along with Red Cross nurses, went to Cuba to provide nursing care, medical supplies, food and other necessities to American service members. The American Red Cross also provided a non-medical service for the armed forces--carrying on a limited communications service which handled inquiries from families. These American Red Cross efforts to relieve suffering did not go unnoticed. In 1900, the U.S. Congress granted the American Red Cross the first charter. In 1905 the American Red Cross was chartered to ìprovide volunteer aid to the sick and wounded of the Armed Forces in time of war, in accordance with the spirit and conditions of the conference of GenevaÖ.To act in matters of voluntary relief and in accord with the military authorities as a medium of communication between the people of the United States and their Armed ForcesÖ.î
World War I. On the brink of war with Germany in 1916, the Surgeon General asked that the American Red Cross organize 58 base hospitals in France and elsewhere. When the U.S. went to war in 1917, President Woodrow Wilson appointed a War Council to run the Red Cross. As the war continued, American Red Cross volunteer and paid workers provided medical and recreational services for the military at home and abroad. The war increased the awareness for the needs of military families. The Red Cross established a Home Service Program with emphasis on financial, social, medical problems and communications. They also pioneered the development of psychiatric nursing programs at veterans' hospitals, made artificial limbs and helped rehabilitate amputees and blinded veterans. Eighteen thousand American Red Cross nurses provided much of the medical care for the American military during World War I, and 4,800 Red Cross ambulance drivers, including Walt Disney and Ernest Hemingway, provided first aid on the front lines. The American Red Cross established 22 front-line canteens in Europe, serving drinks, food, and encouragement to passing troops, to ambulance and truck drivers, and to wounded service members who lay on stretchers outside operating rooms. In France alone, Red Cross canteens served over 15 million mobile troops and 92,000 wounded. During World War I, 296 American Red Cross nurses and 127 American Red Cross ambulance drivers died in service to humanity.
World War II. When the U.S. entered World War II in 1941, America once again turned to the Red Cross to support troops overseas and at home. The Red Cross responded, and expanded its services. More than 104,000 registered nurses recruited by the American Red Cross served in military hospitals at home and overseas. The only organization authorized by the U.S. government to provide canteens on military posts, the American Red Cross again offered a comforting oasis for troops and support personnel. Red Cross volunteer and paid workers also provided emergency message services, as required by the American Red Cross' congressional charter. Twenty-seven million American Red Cross packages were distributed to American and Allied prisoners of war, providing life-sustaining supplemental rations. During World War II, the American Red Cross provided social workers and recreation specialists to ease the discomfort of newly-drafted civilians. Clubs and clubmobiles operated in rest and recreation areas in the field and at military hospitals, hospital ships and hospital trains. In the years leading up to World War II, Dr. Charles Drew found a way to dry blood plasma, extending its useful life from days to weeks and making it possible to ship massive amounts of plasma to military in desperate need overseas. Organized at the request of the Surgeon General, the American Red Cross blood donor project added a new dimension to Red Cross services and collected 13.3 million units of blood for American servicemen. 78 Red Cross workers died while serving overseas during World War II.
Korean War. American Red Cross services grew during the Korean War. President Harry Truman established the Federal blood program in 1951, designating the Red Cross as the blood collecting agency for defense needs, and more than five million pints of blood were collected for the armed forces. At the request of General Douglas MacArthur, the Red Cross expanded its emergency mobile recreation service, serving not only American troops, but all United Nations forces. Eventually, there were 24 Red Cross canteen and clubmobile units operating in Korea, including those at airfields and at a mobile surgical hospital. The American Red Cross provided emergency communication from family members about illnesses, deaths and births throughout the war, a free "first-call-home" program for those wounded in action and millions of envelopes and sheets of paper so wounded service members could write letters to home. When the armistice was signed in 1953 representatives from the American Red Cross and the Korean Red Cross ensured the smooth transfer of nearly 90,000 prisoners of war during "Operation Big Switch." Two Red Cross workers gave their lives in service to the American Red Cross during the Korean Conflict.
The Korean War is the longest war in the history of the world. Technically, the United Nations is still at war with North Korea. U.S. troops have served in large numbers in South Korea since 1953. The Red Cross maintained a mobile recreation program to provide morale activities for members of the U.S. armed forces from 1953 until 1973 when the program was closed. Approximately 800 staff served in this program during its existence. Red Cross staff has been assigned in South Korea continuously since 1953, providing emergency communications to members of the military and their families. They also provide other Red Cross services including health and safety training, disaster preparedness and relief, and volunteer programs. Today there are 14 Red Cross staff members assigned in nine locations in South Korea supporting the 37,000 members of the U.S. military and their families. If hostilities were to break out on the Korean peninsula, these staff members would remain to support the wartime emergency communications needs of the service members and their families.
Vietnam. In 1962, the American Red Cross sent its first paid field staff to Vietnam to assist the growing number of service members at various bases and hospitals. At the height of its involvement in 1968, 480 American Red Cross field directors, hospital personnel and recreation workers served throughout Southeast Asia. In response to a request by the military, American Red Cross clubmobile workers brought recreation to an average of 280,500 service members each month. They logged over two million miles in jeeps, trucks and helicopters during the program's seven-year history. American Red Cross workers shared the hardships and privations of war with the military. Five Red Cross staff members gave their lives. Many others were injured as they helped service members resolve personal problems or get home when emergency leave was granted due to death or serious illness in their immediate family. When Vietnam veterans returned to the United States, American Red Cross employees and volunteers concentrated on helping them readjust to civilian life, often assisting them with paperwork connected with their benefits.
Bay of Pigs Invasion. The American Red Cross and the Cuban Red Cross joined efforts in 1963 to help the Cuban Families Committee arrange the release of 751 Cuban exiles and their families following the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion. Following their release, American Red Cross volunteers distributed comfort items to the former prisoners, staffed canteens, assisted with transportation and temporary housing arrangements and rendered nursing services.
Operation Desert Shield/Storm (Persian Gulf War). Five days after the launch of Operation Desert Shield in August 1990, the first American Red Cross workers arrived in the Persian Gulf region. Over the next year a total of 158 American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services workers worked and lived side-by-side with the men and women they were there to support facing the same dangers of war. Red Cross staff carried 215,000 emergency messages to and from the troops and provided support and comfort. Back home, American Red Cross employees and volunteers aided more than 4,700 service members and their families with $1.72 million in emergency financial assistance and other services. In fulfilling their duties in the Persian Gulf area, seven American Red Cross workers received the Bronze Star for meritorious service.
Operation Restore Hope in Somalia. American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services workers were deployed to Somalia in December 1992. They lived and worked in the same rustic conditions and dangerous environment as U.S. troops in Mogadishu. Between December 1992 and April 1994, 18 staff members relayed almost 11,000 emergency messages relating to death or critical illness of a family member or a birth of a new baby. Staff also distributed items to the troops donated by the American people. In January and February 1993 they distributed over 20,000 blank Valentine Day cards to service members to send home to families and friends.
Operation Support Hope in Rwanda. In the summer of 1994, three Red Cross staff members supported the humanitarian U.S. military mission in Rwanda. They deployed with troops from V Corps in Europe to Kigali. The mission lasted approximately eight weeks.
Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. The first Red Cross team arrived in Haiti with troops of the XVIII Airborne Corps. From January 1994 until April 1996, 17 Red Cross workers deployed to live and work alongside the members of the U.S. military. Staff served at Camp-Haitian and Port-au-Prince. More than 2,300 service members and their families received emergency communications assistance. The American Red Cross distributed quality of life items donated by the American people. These included such things as blank greeting cards for the troops to send home to family and friends, videos, playing cards and books. They also ran a canteen serving coffee, cold drinks, cookies, candy, crackers, and other assorted goodies.
Operation Sea Signal in Cuba. Between September 1994 and August 1995, four Red Cross staff members provided emergency communications support to the U.S. Military Task Force working with Cuban and Haitian refugees at Guantanamo Bay as a result of Operation Uphold Democracy.
Operation Vigilant Warrior in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. To support the significant military build up in the Gulf area, seven Red Cross staff deployed to Camp Doha, Kuwait and Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Staff provided emergency communications support between October 1994 and January 1995.
Operation Vigilant Sentinel in Kuwait. Between August 1995 and January 1996, two Red Cross staff provided emergency communications support to members of the military sent to Kuwait in response to military activities in Iraq.
Operation Joint Endeavor/Joint Guard/Task Force Eagle in Croatia, Hungary and Bosnia. Between January 1996 and October 2002, 128 Red Cross staff members served in Croatia, Hungary and Bosnia. Red Cross offices were located in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, Lukavac and Tuzla, Bosnia and Tasar, Hungary. They handled over 41,000 emergency messages during this operation. Staff operated 24/7 canteens serving coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and cold drinks. They distributed snack items donated by the American people and visited service members at outlying camps. The Red Cross office at Tuzla closed in October 2002 due to the minimal number of emergency messages being received and the expanded military infrastructure available to the service members. Emergency messages continue to be delivered through the Red Cross office in Stuttgart, Germany.
Operation Intrinsic Action in Kuwait. Thirty-two Red Cross staff began supporting U.S. service members deploying to Kuwait in March 1996 and continue to do so today. The Red Cross office at Camp Doha, Kuwait serves all U.S. military members in Kuwait. The staff provide a canteen, video and book libraries, TV room with movies, games, puzzles, and a place to relax. The Red Cross office is appropriately named ìThe Desert Oasisî. Staff visit outlying areas where U.S. troops are living and working.
Operation Desert Thunder in Kuwait. With the buildup of U.S. military forces in Kuwait for Operation Desert Thunder, six Red Cross staff were deployed to support the increased population in the area. They relayed more than 1,000 emergency messages between February and July 1998. They also provided morale support by distributing books, videos, games, candy, coffee and cold drinks. Three staff were assigned with the troops in the Kabal area in northern Kuwait while the others remained at Camp Doha, Kuwait.
Operation Southern Watch in Saudi Arabia. Thirty-six Red Cross staff have been deployed to Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia from March 1998 through today. They support members of the military in Saudi Arabia and also provide emergency communications services to U.S. service members in the Gulf region outside Kuwait and Bahrain. The staff average 4,500 emergency messages a year. They also provide a canteen, videos, books, snack and hygiene items. These items are also distributed to service members throughout the region. They average about 60 Red Cross volunteers from the ranks of service members deployed to PSAB. Included among their volunteers are several British airmen and soldiers who enjoy being involved with the American Red Cross.
Operation Joint Endeavor/Task Force Falcon in Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo. In April 1999 the first three Red Cross staff arrived in Albania supporting V Corps troops from Europe. After a month, the team moved to Camp Bondsteel and Camp Montieth in Kosovo. The Red Cross currently maintains an office at Camp Bondsteel supporting all U.S. military members in Kosovo and Skopje, Macedonia. Fifty-seven staff have supported this operation from April 1999 through today. They have handled over 11,500 emergency messages since 1999. In addition they make regular trips to outlying areas to visit with the service members and distribute donated items to them. The canteen is a very popular place and they have a large video and book library in addition to games and puzzles. The Red Cross office is also visited frequently by coalition forces.
Operation Enduring Freedom in Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. The first Red Cross staff arrived in Uzbekistan on Christmas Day 2002. They lived in very austere conditions and served all U.S. troops in Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Kyrgyzstan. After approximately 220 days, the Red Cross moved to Bagram AB, Afghanistan to service the same area. After another 90 days, an additional office was opened at Kandahar. The staff have handled almost 7,500 emergency messages from arrival in Uzbekistan through the present. Both offices run canteens and have video and book libraries. They both distribute items to troops in outlying areas. Twenty-one staff have served in these locations to date.
Operation Iraqi Freedom in Kuwait/Iraq. The first 12 Red Cross staff arrived in Kuwait on January 25, 2003 to support this operation. As of April 13, 2003, there are 31 Red Cross staff in Kuwait supporting the Army Forces Central Command, 3rd Infantry Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force, V Corps, 101st Airborne Division, 377th Theater Support Command, and 4th Infantry Division. This is the largest Red Cross deployment since Operation Desert Shield/Storm. The staff members are living in the same harsh and stressful environment and conditions the U.S. military. The staff have handled over 20,000 emergency messages and distributed over 35,000 comfort kits with personal items to 11 field hospitals and troops throughout Kuwait and Iraq. Each team also offers a canteen and several of them now have video and book libraries. Several teams will be moving forward into Iraq in the near future. An additional five staff members are expected to arrive in country by the end of April.
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