Northern New York: American Red Cross

The American Red Cross Supports our Military Troops

Roots with the Military Run Deep
A tour of the buildings and gardens at American Red Cross National Headquarters reveals deep ties with military personnel and their families
By Tom Goehner, Manager, Historical Outreach, and Stuart Hales, Content Manager, RedCross.org

Friday, November 09, 2007
The Red Cross Spirit by Felix de Weldon, bronze and marble, 1959
(Photo: Brian MacDonald)
When asked what they know about the American Red Cross, people typically say it provides disaster relief services and conducts blood drives. But those who visit Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C., and gaze at the neoclassical marble buildings and bronze memorials will come away with a different impressionof an organization rooted in service to the military forces of the United States.

Red Cross support of the armed forces can be traced back to the Civil War, when the future founder of the organization, Clara Barton, took it upon herself to provide supplies and nursing services to soldiers on the battlefield. Meanwhile, European nations were drafting and signing the Treaty of Geneva, aimed at protecting wounded and sick soldiers and the relief workers who come to their aid under the emblem of the Red Cross.

The headquarters buildings on Red Cross Square reflect the battlefield heritage of the organization and commemorate the sacrifices made by military families. The 17th Street building, constructed just prior to the U.S. entry into World War I, is dedicated to The heroic women of the Civil War, both North and South. In 1928, on the 10th anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended World War I, President Calvin Coolidge laid the cornerstone of a second building, this one dedicated to the Memory of the Heroic Women of the World War.

Behind these two buildings lies a memorial garden featuring bronze and marble sculptures that underscore the dedication and heroism of Red Cross workers who provide services to the military. These sculptures include the following:

The Jane Delano Memorial, named for the founder of the Red Cross Nursing Service, which honors the 296 nurses (including Delano) who lost their lives in World War I; and
The Red Cross Memorial, cast by Felix de Weldon (the sculptor of the Iwo Jima Memorial), which is dedicated to all who have lost their lives while serving with the Red Cross; and
The memorial garden also contains a commemorative plaque honoring the five Red Cross workers who lost their lives while serving in Vietnam. Nearby is a memorial to five nurses lost at sea while traveling to Europe during World War II. The nurses were part of the Harvard Field Hospital Unit of the Red Cross, which treated outbreaks of communicable diseases during the early stages of the war.

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.


Get Prepared
Preparedness - An everyday task for everday life Being prepared for emergencies is crucial at home, school, work and in your community. Disaster can strike quickly and without warning. It can force you to evacuate your neighborhood, workplace, or school or can confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services - water, gas, electricity, or even telephone service were cut off? Local officials and relief workers will be on the scene after a disaster, but they cannot reach everyone right away. The best way to make you and your family safer is to be prepared before disaster strikes. We encourage you to: Get a Kit Make a Plan Be Informed Disaster Services Each year The American Red Cross responds immediately to more than 75,000 disasters. including house or apartment fires (the majority of disaster responses), hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornados, hazardous materials spills, transportation accidents, explosions, and other natural and man-made disasters. The Good News is That We Can Help! Although the American Red Cross is not a government agency, its authority to provide disaster relief was formalized when, in 1905, the Red Cross was chartered by Congress to "carry on a system of national and international relief in time of peace and apply the same in mitigating the sufferings caued by pestilence, famine, fire, floods, and other great national calamities, and to devise and carry on mesures for preventing the same." The Charter is not only a grant of power, but also an imposition of duties and obligations to the nation, to diaster victims, and to the people who generously support its work with their donations. Red Cross disaster relief focuses on meeting people's immediate emergency disaster-caused needs. When a disaster threatens or strikes, the Red Cross provides shelter, food, as well as health and mental health services to address basic human needs. In addition to these services, the core of Red Cross disaster relief is the assistance given to individuals and families affected by disaster to enable them toresume their normal daily activities independently.

Preparedness Information for Seniors and People with Disabilities
Resources are now available to assist people with special needs. Along with the Red Cross, which provides many resource tools to supply emergency preparedness information to people with disabilities, the National Organization on Disability (NOD) provides numerous guides, tips, checklists and strategies for reaching people with disabilities as well. Below is a list of NOD websites that may assist people with disabilities during an emergency. click here.

Disaster Frequently Asked Questions

1. What can people expect from the American Red Cross during times of disaster?

2. What health services does the American Red Cross provide during a disaster? Isn't this the government's responsibility?

3. Why does the Red Cross provide disaster mental health services after disasters?

4. How is American Red Cross Disaster Services involved in international relief operations?

5. How quickly is the American Red Cross able to respond to disasters?

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What can people expect from the American Red Cross during times of disaster?
Red Cross disaster relief focuses on meeting the emergency disaster-caused needs of individuals and families. When a disaster threatens or strikes, we provide shelter, food, and health and mental health services, which address basic human needs. In addition, we help individuals and families to resume their normal daily activities independently. This may include a referral or a way to pay for what is needed most: groceries, new clothes, rent, emergency home repairs, transportation, household items, medicines, and occupational tools.

The Red Cross may also help those needing long-term recovery assistance when all other available resources, including insurance, government, private, and community assistance, are either unavailable or inadequate to meet the needs. All assistance is based on verified disaster-caused needs and all assistance is freeliterally a gift as a result of the generous support of the American people.

The Red Cross also feeds disaster victims and emergency workers, handles inquiries from concerned immediate family members outside the disaster-affected area, provides blood and blood products to disaster victims, and links disaster victims to other available resources.

What health services does the American Red Cross provide during a disaster? Isn't this the government's responsibility?
Primary responsibility for the general health of a community following a disaster rests with the local public health authorities and local medical, nursing, and health resources. Ill or injured persons normally look to their own physicians or the usual community health facilities for the type of care they need. The Red Cross supplements the existing community health care system when disasters threaten or strike.

Red Cross Disaster Health Services staff deliver first aid and attend to other health-related matters. Based on a person's needs, the Red Cross may also help pay for certain medical needs, including prescription medicines, medical supplies, and emergency medical treatment.

The Red Cross coordinates its disaster health services efforts with those of the local health authorities and the medical and nursing communities. All activities and services provided by Red Cross Disaster Health Services workers reflect quality health care and current professional standards of health care. All Red Cross disaster health services workers must have a current license or certificate in their field of expertise.

Why does the Red Cross provide disaster mental health services after disasters?
The American Red Cross Disaster Mental Health Services staff are licensed mental health professionals trained to recognize the emotional impact of a disaster on those affectedboth victims and workers. They help people recognize, understand, and cope with the specific feelings they experience after a disaster. They work with the local mental health community to ensure both short-term and long-term assistance is available.

How is American Red Cross Disaster Services involved in international relief operations?
The response to international disasters is coordinated through the American Red Cross International Services Department. Depending on the size and scope of the disaster and the capabilities of the affected Red Cross national society, it may request help through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In many cases, the affected Red Cross society is seeking personnel with a special expertise, such as a logistics or mass feeding background.

Following Hurricane Mitch in the fall of 1998, American Red Cross Disaster Services, in conjunction with International Services, formed the International Response Team for the Caribbean Basin and Central America to help the affected national societies with planning and preparedness prior to a major disaster and with rapid needs assessment following a disaster.

How quickly is the American Red Cross able to respond to disasters?
The more than 750 Red Cross chapters across the country are required to respond with services to an incident within two hours of being notified. These local chapters conduct disaster training as well as planning and preparedness, to help them respond quickly and effectively when a disaster occurs.

Human and material resources, such as disaster specialists and disaster relief supplies, are located in high-risk areas. This helps to ensure a quick response when a disaster occurs. Immediately after a disaster incident is reported, we begin to mobilize personnel and other resources to provide services such as sheltering and feeding survivors. The local chapter with the help of other chapters in the state quickly assesses the size and scope of the incident. If help from beyond the state will be needed, a request goes immediately to national headquarters so that supplies can be sent and people recruited as soon as possible.


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Don't Get Burnt
American Red Cross Offers Tips to Prevent Home Fires The U.S. Fire Administration has reported that each year 47,000 fires occur nationally during the holidays claiming more than 500 lives, causing more than 2,200 injuries, and costing $554 million in property damage. Many of these fires are caused by home heating sources, unattended cooking, and candles. "Approximately 93 percent of all Red Cross disaster responses in 2007 were fire related. Many home fires can be prevented, and that's what makes this type of disaster so devastating," said Darlene Sparks, Washington Director for Preparedness at the American Red Cross. The Red Cross recommends the following to prevent home fires: Keep all potential fuel sources at least three feet from heat sources (candles, heat vents, fireplaces, portable heaters and radiators). Extinguish candles before leaving the room or going to bed. Keep anything that can catch on fire - pot holders, oven mitts, wooden utensils, paper or plastic bags, food packaging, and towels or curtains away from your stove top. Test smoke alarms once a month and replace batteries once a year. Ensure that smoke alarms are installed outside of each sleeping area and on each level of your home. Create or review your fire escape plan. Identify two escape routes from every room in your home and choose a meeting place which is a safe distance from your home. Practice your escape plan at least twice a year with all family members. Place candles only where they cannot be knocked over by children or pets. Use sturdy candle holders that won't tip easily and are made of a material that cannot burn. Consider using battery-operated "flameless" candles. A Reminder For You Did you check your smoke detector lately? How about after the last time you you were cooking and it kept going off? Did you replace that battery that you might have used for something else? Have you done your regular smoke detector check within the last 12 months?


Clara Barton, a Great Woman In American History
Clara Barton, born on Christmas Day in 1821, is still honored as one of the great women in the history of America. Education, prison reform and womens suffrage are only a few of her fields of interest and involvement. Miss Barton had a talent for words. She wrote persuasively and was a skilled speaker. She was also a true pioneer. In an era when most teachers were men, she began teaching. Although women who performed clerical duties were required to carry their work home, Clara Barton won the right to have a desk job in an office of the federal government in Washington, DC. And at the outbreak of the Civil War, when she was nearly 40 years old, she began her greatest pioneering. In 1861 Miss Barton was working in Washington when the first federal troops poured into the city. Some were wounded, most were hungry, and many had no bedding or clothing other than what they wore on their backs. She recognized the needs of people in distress and quickly envisioned ways in which she and other volunteers could provide help. That vision dominated the rest of her long life, causing her to set a personal example of volunteer service that is unparalleled. Clara saw the need for immediate personal service to the men in uniform and joined with other women who gave service on behalf of the U.S. Sanitary Commission. She collected necessary articles, appealed for more supplies and learned how to store and distribute them. She also gave attention to personal services that were so important in keeping up the soldiers spirits: she read to the men, wrote letters for them, listened to their personal problems and prayed with them. By constantly badgering leaders in the government and the army, Clara finally received permission to take volunteer services to the battlegrounds and field hospitals. After the Battle of Cedar Mountain, she showed up at a field hospital at midnight with a four-mule-team load of supplies. In his report the surgeon wrote, "I thought that night if heaven ever sent out a holy angel, she must be the one, her assistance was so timely." Afterward she became known as "the Angel of the Battlefield"-personally nursing, comforting and even cooking for the wounded. Delivering a supply wagon filled with food, medical dressings and lanterns to medical staff near Sharpsburg, Miss Barton ordered her driver to "follow the cannon". At Fredericksburg, as she crossed the Rappahannock on a bridge under artillery fire to help a surgeon, a bursting shell tore her clothing. Yet, on reaching the field hospital, she proceeded to give comfort to the wounded and dying through that night and the next day. Clara wrote that she felt obligated to help the wounded until medical aid and supplies could reach them. "I could run the risk; it made no difference to anyone if I were shot or taken prisoner." Her interest in her "soldier boys" as individuals, and the many services she performed for them during the long years of war, naturally created a fund of information about the men and their various regiments. Again seeing a need, she set out to do something about it: toward the end of the war she was writing responses to families who had inquired about men reported as missing. President Lincoln published the following announcement: "To the Friends of Missing Persons: Miss Clara Barton has kindly offered to search for the missing prisoners of war. Please address her at Annapolis, giving her the name, regiment, and company of any missing prisoner." The service thus set in motion is now one of the operations of todays International Red Cross. As a climax to her Civil War activity, Miss Barton proposed that a national cemetery be created around the graves of men who died in Andersonville Prison and that graves be marked where names were known. She also proposed that the unknown be memorialized, anticipating the honor now symbolized by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. After Clara helped raise the flag over the Andersonville grounds at their 1865 dedication, she wrote, "I ought to be satisfied. I believe I am." However, future events would show that she would never be satisfied except by responding again and again to the call of human need. In the 1880s she appealed to veterans to support womens rights, asking them to stand by her as she had stood by them. Miss Barton sailed for Europe in 1869 in search of rest. But once there she found a wider field for service: friends in Geneva, Switzerland, introduced her to the Red Cross idea. And she read the famous book "A Memory of Solferino" written by Henri Dunant, founder of the Red Cross movement. That movement called for international agreements for the protection of the sick and wounded during wartime without respect to nationality and for the formation of voluntary national societies to give aid on a neutral basis. The first treaty embodying Monsieur Dunants idea-called variously the Geneva Treaty, the Red Cross Treaty, and the Geneva Convention-had been drawn up in Geneva in 1864. Later, Miss Barton would fight hard and successfully for the signing of the treaty by the United States. But with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 Clara Barton heard a more immediate call to action. Though she wasnt yet allied with the Red Cross, she knew the misery caused by war and went to the war zone with volunteers of the International Red Cross. She used a red ribbon she was wearing and made a cross to pin on her coat to protect herself with the internationally accepted symbol of neutrality. Clara helped distribute relief supplies to the conquered city of Strasbourg and elsewhere in France. She also opened workrooms where the destitute inhabitants of the city could help themselves by making new clothes, presaging the provision of great quantities of clothes and comfort articles by the American Red Cross in later years. Miss Barton kept in touch with Red Cross officials in Switzerland after her return to the United States, and they felt she was a natural leader for carrying the Red Cross movement to this country. The International Committee also felt she was the right person to influence the American government to sign the Geneva Treaty. It took 5 years of determined lobbying on her part, but her efforts paid off-with President Arthurs signature and the Senates ratification of the treaty in 1882. At the same time, Miss Barton and a group of supporters were forming the American Association of the Red Cross. The Red Cross flag flew officially for the first time in this country in 1881 when Clara was appealing for funds and clothing in Dansville, New York, to aid victims of forest fires. In 1884 she chartered steamers to take supplies down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to help flooded families. In 1889 she helped relieve Johnstown, Pennsylvania residents, after their great flood. In 1892, in her seventies, she directed disaster relief operations in Turkey and Armenia. On resigning as president of the organization in 1904, Clara Barton left a foundation of outstanding service to humanity for others to build on.