|
65 Years of Service with No End in Sight
Alicia Ebaugh, Special to RedCross.org
Monday, July 31, 2006 — SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Darold Sea could tell you countless stories about his experiences as an American Red Cross volunteer—maybe more than most volunteers in the international humanitarian organization’s history.
Darold Sea, who has been volunteering for the American Red Cross for more than half its 125-year existence, proudly shows his 65-year pin awarded at the Annual Meeting of the Siouxland Area Chapter of the American Red Cross, June 2006. (Photo Credit: Ed Porter/American Red Cross)
|
In June 2006, Sea was honored for 65 years of service with the Siouxland Area Chapter of the Red Cross in Sioux City, Iowa. That’s more than half of the organization’s 125-year existence.
“The Red Cross deals with life – people who are starving, people in serious need. That has always impressed me,” Sea said. “Volunteering with them means helping people who need you.”
It all started for Sea in 1941 when he was chosen as Junior Red Cross representative of his sixth-grade class. Throughout high school and college, Sea remained involved with Red Cross blood drives and other youth activities. He came back to Sioux City as a teacher to be a sponsor of the youth program, and then the director.
“It was the most important part of my Red Cross career,” he said. “The youth program is where a lot of future leaders in the Red Cross come from.”
He got his first taste of disaster work in 1953 following flash flooding along the Floyd River in Sioux City. Separate from his role with the Red Cross, Sea helped pick up nearly 50 people stranded on rooftops and second-story windows by boating in water more than 15 feet deep in some areas.
His most interesting, even scary, experience came during the 1989 crash of United Flight 232 at the Sioux Gateway Airport. Sea’s job didn’t allow him to be on the scene when it happened, but he jumped on the local Red Cross phone bank as soon as he could. That’s when the call came.
“This man said he was in charge of people who put the bomb on the plane today, and they were going to kill a lot more Americans tomorrow,” Sea said of the call. “He was trying to take credit for the crash—I was even interviewed by the FBI about it.”
It was later found out that the crash was caused by a systems malfunction.
Throughout his years of volunteering, Sea also has been a board member and five-time emergency shelter director. Although he has been retired for more than a decade from his day job, he doesn’t anticipate giving up his volunteer service with the Red Cross anytime soon.
“I won’t really retire as long as I can do something to help someone,” Sea said.
Alicia Ebaugh, a police reporter at the Sioux City Journal, is a new volunteer with the American Red Cross.
Related Links:
Related Content:
|
