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Red Cross Messages Provide Vital Military Link
Written by
Bonnie Gillespie
, Staff Writer, RedCross.org
Tuesday, April 29, 2003 — Even as the conflict in Iraq draws to a close, thousands of families across America remain separated from loved ones deployed for military service in the Middle East.
Red Cross AFES worker Marrietta O'Brien delivers an emergency message to a staff sergeant at Camp Commando, Kuwait during a recent biochemical alert. In spite of challenging conditions, emergency messages continue to get through.
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The Armed Forces Emergency Services (AFES) branch of the American Red Cross is continuing to provide a vital link between service members and their families, relaying emergency messages from home to remote locations around the world.
"We are the connection in the field for the active duty personnel to their families back home," said Vicki Bengtson from Red Cross AFES Headquarters in Kuwait where she serves as Director of Operations.
"When people are used to the instant communication we have back home like cell phones and instant messenger, not being able to reach someone they love whenever they want is a devastating reality of deployment," she said.
Since communication blackouts have been common throughout the Iraqi conflict, Red Cross messages have often been the only means by which information from home could reach service members.
From birth announcements and health and welfare inquiries, to serious illnesses or family deaths, Red Cross messages take news from home straight to a soldier in the field, while verifying the information to commanding officers if emergency leave is necessary.
Through an interwoven network of 961 local chapters, 109 military installation locations, AFES call centers located across the U.S. and more than 30 AFES workers deployed just with troops in the Middle East, the Red Cross offers U.S. military families an accessible communication channel, regardless of the situation.
"It's often the only link that families have and is the only way they can be assured that the information is actually getting through to their loved one," said Kathleen Wescott, Chief Program Officer for the San Diego Chapter, which serves almost 30 percent of the Marines and Navy in the world.
"Emergency messaging becomes a quiet service in non-conflict times, and until conflict arises, you don't understand how important it is and how much the military appreciates it," Wescott said.
Not only is Red Cross emergency messaging a valued service, but it is has also been utilized by thousands of military families since the present conflict began. During March alone, Red Cross AFES call centers experienced a 22 percent increase in activity, averaging almost 4,000 incoming and outgoing calls each day. Almost 21,000 families were assisted by Red Cross workers at call centers just in the past month.
Continuing a Legacy of Service
The practice of relaying messages for military personnel began during the Civil War with the founder of the American Red Cross, Clara Barton.
In October 1865, Harper's Weekly carried this sketch of Clara Barton raising the flag at the site of a former Civil War prison. Barton received numerous requests from families and friends on both sides seeking word on their loved ones and she ultimately answered over 63,000 letters.
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"As the story goes, Clara went to a battlefield and one of the wounded soldiers asked her to write his parents a note to tell them he was wounded but recovering well," said Jesse Cowart, with AFES at Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"And Clara did just that, and it was the first time in history a third party had acted as a medium between servicemen and families back home. So what we have now at AFES call centers is an army of modern-day Clara Barton's."
Each persons that dials a Red Cross AFES Call Center toll free number, speaks directly to a "Clara Barton," otherwise known as a trained Red Cross caseworker, who can assist them in relaying an emergency message to a loved one, in addition to providing counseling or referral services for issues such as emergency financial assistance.
"Good caseworkers are a lot like a combination between Sherlock Holmes and a bulldog," said Bengtson. "They are tremendously resourceful and when they get a hold of something they won't let go."
From AFES volunteers in communities across America, to the experienced AFES team members serving with deployed military personnel overseas, caseworkers are equipped to tenaciously deliver a message despite difficulties, but when the situation is sensitive, they do so with empathy and compassion.
"When you handle huge volumes of emergency messages you don't want to lose the reality that they're dealing with something very difficult back home," Bengtson said. "So we try to put ourselves in that person's living room to imagine what their family must be going through."
Like deployed AFES staff, caseworkers and volunteers in the States have experienced similar situations. Many Red Cross chapters have even had staffs members activated for duty, who are now also serving overseas.
"Like our local military families, we're watching and waiting to see what is going to happen," said Michelle Johnson, Assistant Director of AFES for the Oklahoma City Chapter. "We're feeling what they're feeling when they call in, and it's great to know that we can help because we understand what they're going through."
The American Red Cross is not a government agency. We rely on the assistance of caring supporters like you to deliver our critical services. You can support U.S. military members and their families through the American Red Cross as we provide assistance and comfort. Your gift will support the nationally coordinated Red Cross services provided to military families across the country and to American service men and women located throughout the world. Please make a financial donation to Service to Armed Forces by calling 1-800-RED CROSS or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions may be sent to the American Red Cross Service to Armed Forces, P.O. Box 91820, Washington, DC 20090. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org.
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