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Support for the Troops 

By Dan Harshman

Last month, we had the opportunity to play a small part in the D-Day 80th Anniversary exhibit that was presented at John O. Marsh National Guard Armory in Woodstock. Our contribution consisted of loaning them a local WWII pilot’s uniform, including his leather flight cap and goggles. 

These items came out of our Museum’s Military section that pays tribute to those that have served our Country throughout history. Intermixed with the uniforms and artifacts are many items from our extensive Red Cross collection. The American Red Cross (ARC) was founded in 1905 and charged with providing “volunteer aid in time of war to the sick and wounded of the armed forces” and with providing communications between the people and the military. 

The ARC also provides relief from the suffering of those affected by disasters such as famine, fire, floods, hurricanes and other great national calamities. But for this article I’m going to focus on the many things they did during World War II. 

The American Red Cross trained and certified nurses for service in the military beginning before the First World War. The impact of World War II created a shortage of trained nurses in the United States as civilian nurses entered the Army and Navy Nurse Corps. As war casualties increased, more were needed both overseas and in military hospitals established here at home. ARC trained nurses were able to fill the vacancies caused by those serving in the military. Red Cross trained volunteer Nurses Aides and volunteer Dietitian Aides also provided assistance to both military and civilian hospitals.

The ARC had begun collecting blood and processing it into liquid plasma to send to England before the U.S. entered the war. The Military asked the Red Cross to establish a Blood Donor Service and begin processing the blood into dried blood plasma that could be more easily stored and shipped overseas. Dr. Charles Drew headed this up and blood donation centers were set up across the country including mobile units before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941.

One of our Red Cross exhibits includes a wide variety of Red Cross volunteer uniforms from over the years. In addition to training nurses during WWII, the Red Cross trained volunteers who provided whatever service a wounded soldier needed. The Gray Ladies, as they were called, might do something like play a game of cards, help write a letter home, or simply listen to a lonely soldier. The Gray Ladies would organize ward parties, set up art exhibits or even bring a theatrical performance to the hospital to lessen the load on those healing from their wounds. 

The Red Cross also set up local councils in many cities here at home where hospitals were located with the purpose of providing items not normally available through the military. This council handled requests from the hospitals and would work with local businesses to provide things ranging from musical instruments, sports equipment and furniture, to magazines, newspapers and books to read.

By 1945, the last year of the war, the Red Cross had 36.7 million adult members and 19.9 million Junior Red Cross members. They were the largest civilian organization providing vital services to military personnel and their families. Between 1941 and 1946, when the average U.S. family’s yearly income was around $3,000, Americans contributed about $785 million to the Red Cross war fund. Every year the contributions exceeded the goals set by the ARC.

A soldier didn’t need to be recouping in a hospital to be lonely and homesick. Services to the Armed Forces (SAF) was a division of the Red Cross that focused on the well-being of military personnel, both in the United States and abroad. The SAF assistance was generally provided by paid staff and was divided into several categories, these were: Hospital Service which provided social workers and recreational activities at all military hospitals, including veterans hospitals, overseas and in the U.S.   Club Services offered rest and recreation to U.S. troops in the European and Pacific war zones. Camp Services’ workers maintained mail services on bases so military personnel could communicate with their families and kept soldiers informed of any difficulties their families might be having; as well as assisting to solve the issue. Home Service staff members were in constant contact with the Camp Service personnel to facilitate communication between family members and troops.

In this day of almost instant face to face communication; it might be hard to imagine being far from home waiting to hear from family and friends using only the written word delivered by what we now call snail-mail.

While technology in the 1940s was vastly different than today, the Red Cross Voices from Home program did offer a unique way for families to send a holiday message to those far away. Although I believe this program could be used at any time; the example we have in our collection focuses on the Christmas holiday season. Red Cross volunteers used a record recorder to create a personal message on a 33-1/3 rpm record that could be sent to a serviceman stationed overseas. 

Our exhibit includes the following message; “be he father, son, husband or brother, he’ll feel closer to home during the Christmas season when he receives a 33-1/3 rpm record of your voice and your photograph through the free VOICES FROM HOME project sponsored by your local American National Red Cross”. 

And I bet it did exactly that.