Red Cross Provides Military Services

Red Cross volunteers connect families with service men and women overseas

February 27, 2003
By: Stephen Kent

As our country comtemplates war, it's important to remember the role that the Red Cross plays in keeping families in touch with their service men and women who are away from home.

The Red Cross Movement began on the battlefields of Italy. Henry Dunant saw the great suffering of injured and dying soldiers going without care. He founded the Red Cross movement to provide care where it was most needed. In 1881 Clara Barton brought the movement to our shores and founded the American Red Cross.

During peacetime, it's easy to lose sight of the military connection. The Red Cross is associated with health and safety education, financial assistance to low income families, and disaster services. Fire, flood and other natural disasters get the most attention. The very first large scale disaster relief effort by the American Red Cross occured near here after the great Huron County forest fire.


During wartime, the Red Cross's "Armed Forces Emercengy Services" (AFES) become more obvious and important. Military necessity may make it impossible for a family to contact their loved one directly. They may not even know where that person is located. The Red Cross is the organization officially charged with the task of establishing communications between state side families and their service men and women over seas.

If a family emergency requires that a service man or woman be released to return home, the Red Cross is responsible for gathering and screening the request. If the case qualifies, arrangements are made to contact the ranking officers and expidite the release.

Red Cross AFE services are provided by trained volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Whether the message is a family emergency or the good news of a new baby, the Red Cross gets the message through.

During peacetime Bay City's "East Shoreline Chapter" of the American Red Cross may handle a hundred calls a year. As local troops have leftthe area for the Middle East the call volume has already started to grow. It is certain that this trend will only continue.

The American Red Cross is staffed largely by volunteers. If you would like to get involved, or if you have need of Red Cross services, you can contact the East Shoreline Chapter in Bay City by calling (989) 892-1541. There are few better ways to help your community than being a Red Cross volunteer.