Celebrating Women’s History in the Red Cross: A Minnesota Girl Goes to Vietnam

Story and photos by Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
Additional reporting by Lanet Hane/American Red Cross

Lois Hamilton served with the American Red Cross Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) program in Korea after the war in 1965 and during the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
Lois Hamilton served with the American Red Cross Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) program in Korea after the war in 1965 and during the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross

Lois Hamilton was a Red Cross caseworker at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in 1967 when she decided to go to Vietnam at a hot time during the war. At the hospital, she saw “horrendous injuries,” but she also saw wounded warriors get well. “I loved my work,” she says over coffee and pastries at her home in Rochester, Minnesota. “It was my job to make the whole situation easier for them, to comfort them.”

By that time, and the time of her decision to go to Vietnam, she already had overseas experience. She’d left her hometown of Osseo, Minnesota, to serve with the Red Cross’s Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) program in Korea in 1965. She was 22 years old. She knew Vietnam would be different, tougher and more serious. Still, her Korea experience was key: “Had I not gone to Korea, I’d never have gone to Vietnam,” she says.

When she told some of the patients at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital about her plans “they thought it was the dumbest thing they’d ever heard.” Yet, they were supportive and gave her some advice: “keep your head down,” they said. And she did, for 12 months of service with the Red Cross SRAO program in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968.

During that time, Lois and the other SRAO women, all recent college graduates with adventurous spirits, carried program bags: duffels stuffed with quizzes, flashcards and other games for boosting morale and combatting boredom among American troops in South Vietnam.

During the Vietnam War, Lois Hamilton (center) was among hundreds of young women who carried Red Cross SRAO program bags stuffed with quizzes, flashcards and other games they used to boost morale and combat boredom among American troops.
During the Vietnam War, Lois Hamilton (center) was among hundreds of young women who carried Red Cross SRAO program bags stuffed with quizzes, flashcards and other games they used to boost morale and combat boredom among American troops. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross

From their base in Saigon, the “Red Cross girls” (also nicknamed “Donut Dollies”) traveled to army units around the country. They went by bus or helicopter. A few made small talk with the helicopter pilots. But unlike some of the other girls, Lois did not make friends with the pilots because their risk of being killed was so high. “I think it was a protection sort of thing.”

Lois never doubted she would make it home. Not even in 1968 during the Tet Offensive, a series of communist military attacks on Saigon. Mostly, the time was “scary for my family because mail wasn’t going in or out.” Still, Lois heard gunfire on her street. Even closing shutters was a danger.

Later, Lois and the other SRAO workers were transferred to the U.S. Army’s 4th Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Enari in Pleiku. There, they sought cover in a bunker that was just for the Red Cross girls. “I worried about some of them,” says Lois, who recalls crying only one time when a shower blew up and there was a fire, and then no hot water. It was a little thing, really, but the little things added up.

Sometimes during their service, Lois and the others wore flak jackets. “You girls should not be here,” a soldier said. “But if you are, then you should wear flak jackets.” They also had fatigues, combat boots and, for a short time, a revolver that a captain at Camp Enari gave them for times when they had to jump in the bunker.

A page from the Sayonara (farewell) book the other Red Cross girls made for Lois Hamilton before she left Vietnam in 1968. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross
A page from the Sayonara (farewell) book the Red Cross girls made for Lois Hamilton before she left Vietnam in 1968. Photo credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross

But they were non-combatants. Most often Lois wore a dress, not a flak jacket. Her job was to bring a smile to a weary soldier’s face. “They had fun and I had fun, too,” she says. “Smiling was good.” For the most part, she felt like one of the guys. “The difference was that I was a civilian.”

In July 1968, her service was up and Lois did not extend. “I’m going home,” she said at the time to the others. “I was just ready to go home,” she says today.

Lois stayed with the Red Cross in various positions and retired decades later. She also became active in the Vietnamese refugee community in Rochester. “I felt I had a kinship because of Vietnam.” She went so far as to welcome three refugee children, with their own stories of survival and escape, into her home and later adopt them.

Reflecting on her Vietnam experience, Lois remembers her decision to go surprising her friends. “Lois would never do that,” some said. But she felt good about going. She would go again. “I’m the one who’s lucky.”

At its peak in 1969, 110 young women with the American Red Cross Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) program reached an estimated 300,000 military members in Vietnam (source: redcross.org). Today, the Red Cross continues to provide emergency communications and other services to America’s armed forces. To learn more, click here.

Volunteer Spotlight: Melinda Wittmer

MelindaMeet Melinda Wittmer, a Disaster Services volunteer for the American Red Cross serving Northern Minnesota.

Melinda has been a Disaster Services volunteer since 2011, and is part of the Disaster Action Team (DAT). She also has recently taken on a new role with Volunteer Services – she’ll be interviewing prospective volunteers to introduce them to the volunteer opportunities at the Red Cross and help them find a good fit.

As a child, Melinda was introduced to the Red Cross as part of her home-school curriculum, in which her mother made the Red Cross a recurring theme. What Melinda took away from that was that the Red Cross “is a solid entity that is always there to help.”

Fast forward to Melinda’s adult life when she was working at a group home and became very close to an individual who turned into one of her favorite clients. His health declined and he was put on life support, and then eventually taken off. At that moment Melinda decided she wanted to do something good and help people. She went to the Red Cross office in Duluth, Minnesota, to ask a few questions, and was immediately “roped in.” Within minutes she was filling out an application, and the rest is history!

Melinda went on her first home fire call with one of the chapter’s most experienced volunteers.  Since then Melinda has responded to over 30 home fires.  Melinda says that the most satisfying part of being a disaster volunteer is “helping people who have experienced a devastating loss and seeing how grateful clients always are for the services of the American Red Cross.”

A few months ago Melinda went through the difficult experience of responding to an incident that involved a fatality. Additionally, it turned out that she was familiar with the person who died. Despite the difficulty involved in this response, Melinda took away the feeling that she was there for the family to help them with the “begin-again phase” of their lives.

The Red Cross has made Melinda more confident, and through her interactions and meeting other volunteers she has become interested in pursuing a career in Emergency Management.

Melinda certainly embodies the mission and fundamental principles of both the American Red Cross and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around the globe.  She’s always ready, willing and able to assist and a great comfort to those who have suffered a loss because of home fires and other disasters.

Story and photo by Nancy Rogers, Volunteer Services Coordinator for the American Red Cross serving Northern Minnesota.

To learn more about becoming a Red Cross volunteer, click here.

This year’s highest Red Cross nursing honor goes to…

Janice Springer (c) receives the Ann Magnussen Award from Gail McGovern (l) and Linda MacIntyre (r) during the American Red Cross National Awards and Recognition Dinner on February 18, 2015, in Washington D.C. Photo by Jason Colston/American Red Cross
Janice Springer (c) received the Ann Magnussen Award from Gail McGovern (l) and Linda MacIntyre (r) during the American Red Cross National Awards and Recognition Dinner on February 18, 2015, in Washington D.C. Photo by Jason Colston/American Red Cross

Each year the American Red Cross presents the Ann Magnussen Award to a Red Cross volunteer or employed registered nurse who has made an outstanding contribution to strengthening and improving Red Cross programs and services. This year, our very own Janice Springer received this great honor, which is the highest honor of nursing achievement in the American Red Cross, at the National Awards and Recognition Dinner on February 18, 2015, in Washington, D.C.

Janice Springer, DNP, PN, PHN, has worked with the American Red Cross for 12 years. Based in central Minnesota, Janice serves as the Disaster Health Services Advisor for the American Red Cross Minnesota Region. She is responsible for overseeing all health services activities, including sheltering, disaster mental health and disaster health. Additionally, Janice is a disaster volunteer with more than 20 regional and national deployments, and is the Public Health Consultant in the Red Cross Regional Nurse Network.

Janice is actively building regional disaster health services leadership. She supported Superstorm Sandy relief as a liaison among the Red Cross, the FEMA Disability Office, local community partners and the shelters. She has been instrumental in promoting the Disaster Health and Sheltering Course for nursing students, which will build capacity in regions and chapters and provide nursing students with an opportunity to assist during disasters. She also teaches numerous courses at the chapters.

Janice’s background also includes research in disaster shelters, and she completed her doctoral study in Public Health Nursing: Meeting Access and Functional Needs in Congregate Care Shelters in Disasters. After recognizing that her initial plan, developed with multiple federal partners, did not meet the needs of shelter clients and staff during pilot studies of disaster relief operations, she reconvened the federal interagency group to develop the current Red Cross shelter intake process to identify the needs of clients with access and functional needs. Her approach has been adopted by Disaster Cycle Services and is an integral part of the new Shelter Prototype Project.

To learn more about the American Red Cross, click here. 

Will You Be Mine?

valentinedayblogphotoI want to stand on the roof top and shout it: We love you, donors! Because of you, disaster assistance is free. Because of you, families divided are reunited. Because of you, trauma patients don’t need to wait, or wonder if there will be enough blood—there will be, because you gave it.

You give from your hearts, from your belief in our mission, and from your trust in the Red Cross to be ready and to be there—in a moment’s notice—whenever and wherever disaster strikes. Thank you!

We love you because, with your generosity, you are there beside us: giving back what fire takes, reconnecting military families after deployment, making sure the nation’s blood supply never falls short. Together with you, we help the people of Minnesota, the United States, and the entire world every day.

Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for your generosity. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for helping us to always be ready. We do—we love you!

And if you ever have questions about your giving experience, or if I may be of service, please call or email me anytime—I am here and happy to help.

Amanda Hedlund, Stewardship Officer, American Red Cross Minnesota Region
Reach me at 612-872-3246 or amanda.hedlund@redcross.org

When a fire takes a home, it takes everything in it.

GWFT_FacebookPostShoesFire takes. Fire takes security. Fire takes a lifetime of cherished moments. Fire takes without regard to race, income, or social stature. When a home fire happens, it can take everything.

While we can’t begin to replace all the intangible things that make a house a home, we can begin to provide some useful items that offer immediate care and comfort to those in need.

We need your help! Become a fundraiser for the Red Cross and help us provide care and comfort to people in your community and around the country.   The dollars you raise could help us install smoke detectors, provide blankets, clothes and shoes or financial assistance for families. Your symbolic gift will help those affected by disasters like home fires.

Sign up to raise funds as an individual or a team with our Give What Fire Takes Campaign on CrowdRise today.

 

Measles anywhere is measles everywhere

Story and photo by Niki McMillian, Senior Associate in International Communications with the American Red Cross

Children visited by Red Cross volunteers during a social mobilization effort for measles in Benin. Photo: American Red Cross/Niki Clark
Children visited by Red Cross volunteers during a social mobilization effort for measles in Benin. Photo: American Red Cross/Niki McMillian

It’s almost become a cliché in the headlines. But in many ways, it’s true. It is a small world. While news of the measles outbreak at California’s Disneyland and information about vaccinations are making headlines this week, the American Red Cross has been focused on the virus—and its elimination—for nearly a decade and a half. Because measles anywhere means measles everywhere.

Even though measles was eliminated from the United States in 2000, outbreaks can occur when unvaccinated travelers pick up the measles abroad, importing the virus as an unwelcome, and often unknown, souvenir. Last year’s outbreaks in Ohio, Washington state, New York, San Diego and Nebraska have all been linked back to unvaccinated Americans that had recently visited measles hotspots abroad.

Those hotspots are exactly the type of places where the Measles & Rubella Initiative (M&RI) is working the hardest. Since 2001, the Red Cross, as a partner in the M&RI, has vaccinated 1.1 billion children in some 80 countries, helping to raise measles vaccination coverage to 84% globally, and reduced measles deaths by 71%. This means there are fewer chances of measles being imported into countries that have already eliminated the virus. And while health advances have been impressive, outbreaks like the one in California—now confirmed at 51 cases—have clearly demonstrated that the work of M&RI is far from over.

The Red Cross serves a unique role in measles and rubella campaigns. In a world where one in every 500 people on the planet is a Red Cross volunteer, our reach is unsurpassed. And that reach enables us to go door to door in communities where campaigns are happening, both before, during and after, spreading the word to mothers and families. In order for a campaign to be considered successful, a 95% coverage rate is needed. Red Cross volunteers, neighbors living in the communities in which they work, can help this happen.

Measles is a highly contagious virus, spread by contact with an infected person through coughing and sneezing. When one person has measles, 90% of people they come into close contact with will become infected, if they are not already immune through vaccination or previous contraction.

Before the formation of M&RI, more than 562,000 children died worldwide from measles complications each year, some 1,539 every day, mostly children under five years of age. While there have been great improvements, today an estimated 122,000 children—approximately 330 per day—still die from measles-related complications every year. This number is even more tragic when considering that is only costs $1 to vaccinate a child, making it one of the most cost effective global health interventions.

It is a small world. Outbreaks in Africa, Asia and Europe later show up as outbreaks on our own front doors. But together, we can eliminate measles once and for all.

For more information or to donate, visit measlesrubellainitiative.org. To see how Red Cross volunteers help spread the word during measles campaigns, watch Door to Door: A Measles Campaign in Benin.

This story originally appeared on the American Red Cross blog. 

Gray Ladies celebrate 60th anniversary

Story and photo by Amy Chaffins, a journalist with the Echo Press newspaper.

L_GrayLadies_102914_7359
Gray Ladies members include (back row, left to right) Rhonda Steinberg, Sue Jelen, Marlene Strehlow, Marlien Lohrman, Luella Peterson, Judy Schjei, Judy Steidl, Janet McHugh and Pat Pederson; (front row) Candy Bohjanen-Hammitt, Sylvia Klimek, Irene Wheeler, Hazel Holt, Myrtle McKay and Irene Bundy. Not pictured are Pat Katzmsarek, Linda Kuhlman, Kathleen Linn, Julie Roering, Fran Schultz, Ruth Steidl and Renee Stomberg. (Amy Chaffins/Echo Press)

The American Red Cross Gray Ladies of Alexandria, Minn., celebrated its 60th anniversary on October 30, 2014. The group primarily helps out during Red Cross bloodmobile events.

A special meeting brought the women together at the Traveler’s Inn in Alexandria to celebrate and share stories. There are currently 22 active local members.

In 2013, the Alexandria Gray Ladies volunteered about 1,951 hours at more than 50 bloodmobile events in Douglas County, according to member Candy Bohjanen-Hammitt.

Since its start in 1954, 170 Gray Ladies have served as members.

About the Gray Ladies

The Gray Ladies, formerly known as Hostess and Hospital Service and Recreation Corps, was founded in 1918 at Walter Reed Army Hospital and became a unique and enduring symbol of the Red Cross service in military and later civilian hospitals.

Their gray uniforms worn by the female volunteers at the hospitals prompted wounded soldiers in their care to affectionately call them Gray Ladies.

In 1947, the name was officially changed to the Gray Lady service.

The Gray Ladies do not provide medical care, rather recreational services to patients and assistance where needed at military and civilian hospitals, blood centers and disaster response.

Early on in the Alexandria chapter, the Gray Ladies would visit nursing home patients, write letters and sometimes transport patients to appointments.

Nationwide, during World War II, the service reached its peak with almost 50,000 women serving as Gray Ladies in military and other hospitals across the U.S.

The Gray Ladies continued serving in hospitals until the mid-1960s when the Red Cross shifted to a unified concept of volunteers.

This story is published on our blog with permission. It was originally published in the Echo Press on November 5, 2014.

If you’re interested in volunteering for the American Red Cross, click here.

Resources to help youth prepare for emergencies

The Red Cross has free and easy resources to help young people and their families prepare their households for several types of situations from power outages to tornadoes:

  • monster-guard-flood-screenshotThe Monster Guard: Prepare for Emergencies App provides 7-to-11 year-olds a fun, gaming environment to learn how to prevent emergencies, like home fires, and what to do if severe weather or natural disasters occur. Using the app is an exciting way for children to learn, practice the lessons and share the information with family and friends.
  • The Red Cross worked with Disney to develop the “Mickey and Friends Disaster Preparedness Activity Book.” The book teaches children and families how to prepare for and respond to a wide range of disasters and emergencies through interactive games and activities. The book is available to download in English and in Spanish.
  • Other Red Cross emergency preparedness apps contain a ‘Make a Plan’ feature that allows users to create their plan and share it with their loved ones.
  • A Family Disaster Plan Template is available to download.

In the New Year…Volunteer!

The New Year is a great time to evaluate your priorities and begin new adventures. If you’re looking to improve your health, expand your social circle, and build new skills, volunteering with the Red Cross may be the perfect new experience to dive into in 2015. And if you’re already among our amazing cohort of volunteers, this may be just the time to explore a new opportunity.

Icon Disaster ServicesWhy Volunteer?

Volunteering has many benefits – it allows you to expand your skill set, meet new people, have fun, and make a difference in your community. But did you know it also has positive health benefits? A Corporation for National and Community Service report found that volunteering leads to better health, including lower mortality rates and lower instances of heart disease. So, if your New Year’s list includes hitting the gym and eating more veggies, consider volunteering as another (and more fun) way to improve your health.

Why the Red Cross?

Volunteers are so important to the Red Cross that they’re right in our mission statement:

The American Red Cross prevents and alleviates human suffering in the face of emergencies by mobilizing the power of volunteers and the generosity of donors.

Red Cross volunteers are both generous and committed. In the past 6 months, volunteers from the Minnesota Region have devoted over 57,000 hours to the Red Cross mission – a value of over $1.3 million to the organization and our community.*

What Can I Do?

The Red Cross has a wide variety of volunteer opportunities – from teaching CPR/First Aid courses and to responding to local disasters, to assisting with fix-it projects around our buildings. You can check out the opportunities listed below, and find a more complete overview of opportunities on our website. If you’re ready to get started, you can apply here.

If you already volunteer with the Red Cross but would like to get more involved (or try something different), we have some great new opportunities available:

Volunteer Champion – The Volunteer Services Department is seeking  Volunteer Champions to support and implement ways to recognize, retain, and increase satisfaction of volunteers.

Disaster Action Team (DAT) Administrator – The Disaster Services Department is seeking a DAT Administrator volunteer to manage the DAT calendars, communicate schedules with after-hours answering service, monitor DAT schedules to ensure ongoing on-call coverage, and enter response data after an event.

Donor Appreciation Volunteer – The Financial Development Department is seeking volunteers to thank donors for giving generously to the American Red Cross.

Latino Outreach Volunteer – The Preparedness Department is seeking  volunteers to go to a variety of events in the Latino community and have conversations with individuals and families about the importance of being prepared. Must be fluent in Spanish.

Current volunteers can view full job descriptions and express interest in any of these opportunities on Volunteer Connection or by emailing Kelly.Clark2@redcross.org.

Cheers to all Red Cross volunteers – both new and veteran – in 2015!

Lisa Joyslin,
American Red Cross Minnesota Region Volunteer Director

*According to the Independent Sector’s estimated value of volunteer time of $22.55 per hour.

Happy NAT Graduates

Congratulations! to our most recent American Red Cross Nurse Assistant Training (NAT) graduates in Minnesota. Family and friends turned out to celebrate this achievement on December 30, 2014. Also, potential employers were on-hand to share information about their work places and to meet the graduates who are future caregivers.

DSC_4412NAT graduates display their new American Red Cross certificates.

DSC_4371NAT graduate Lizbeth Perez visits with a healthcare provider during the job fair.

DSC_4374Hayet Chalbe (l) celebrated with her daughter Zohra on graduation day.

DSC_4379NAT student Erica Parker was one of 7 graduates from Red Cross NAT on December 30.

DSC_4388NAT instructor Yelena McCormick reads Oh, the Places You’ll Go by Dr. Suess.

DSC_4364NAT graduate Trevor Brown gets employer information from a healthcare provider.

DSC_4403NAT coordinator Kimberly Fullmer offers congratulations to student Jordin Melchert.

The American Red Cross is the premier provider of Nurse Assistant Training (NAT) and has prepared individuals for work in the nursing field for over 100 years. The program is designed with input from educators, caregivers, and long-term industry representatives from across the United States. To learn more, click here.

All photos, credit: Lynette Nyman/American Red Cross