One day in Buffalo, Minnesota, early in 1973, a girl named Deb Butman came home from high school with an announcement. “Hey dad, I’m going to join the army.”
Her dad, an U.S. Army Air Corps staff sergeant who served in the UK and Africa during World War II, laughed because he knew his daughter ‘did not like being told what to do’ says Deb, when reflecting on her impulse to enlist. And yet, Kenneth Butman stood by his daughter and was proud she chose to carry on the family’s legacy of military service.
Deb hoped to attend the army’s language school with a focus on Russian. Being unable to get the right security clearance, the found herself presented with other recommendations like becoming a cook. “No thanks,” she said.
Even so, that summer at the tail end of the Vietnam War, she found herself in the thick humidity surrounding Fort Anniston in Alabama. There she stood, barely 18, among a group of female soldiers of different ages and backgrounds attending bootcamp.
She made friends with Julie, another soldier. A friendship grew and soon they were chosen to call out drills, earning the nicknames ‘Putt and Butt,’ which referred to their last names. Deep bonds developed with soldiers and leaders. “You respect those people training you,” she says. “You build a kind of family, whether you mean to or not.”
Despite the challenges for women, Deb proved herself and established credibility. She went from Alabama to Texas where she trained to become a medical corpsman. “You’re smiling,” said one instructor. “I’m a happy person,” she said. “You won’t be after you spend a few days with me,” the instructor said.
One day, tragic news arrived from her first lieutenant, who approached Deb while she was standing at attention. “I don’t know how to tell you this. Your dad died,” she said simply and, with what Deb recalls, little empathy. It turned out that Deb’s dad did not survive a heart attack.
Thankfully, and within moments of receiving the life-changing news, Deb’s first sergeant wrapped an arm around her. “We’ll get you home,” he promised and brought her to the American Red Cross office on base where a flight was arranged. She was back home the same day to be with her family in Minnesota.
The next year, “we were in the middle of nowhere” Deb says about being at Fort Dix in New Jersey. She when to work, administering shots to deploying soldiers and tending to children in the pediatrics unit. Her patients included a young man with severe burns from a stove explosion. “You have a nice touch,” she remembers him saying through bandages and pain. “I’m glad I can help you feel better,” she replied, meaning every word.
Deb’s military service lasted three years, which was the length of commitment at the time. She received her honorable discharge under President Nixon, one of the last before he resigned.
“Things will be as they’re meant to be.”
After the army, Deb used the G.I. Bill to pay her way through school and eventually found herself back where her heart had always been – working with kids. First as a teacher and then, after earning her master’s degree, as a licensed mental health therapist.
She married Clark Perkins, also a licensed therapist. Together, they opened a small practice in Brookings, South Dakota. The work was meaningful and rewarding. And yet she found room in her life for more. She was, in fact, called to Red Cross service, especially because it was “instrumental when I was a struggling soldier.” So, in 1997, Deb took up another uniform – that of the Red Cross volunteer.
At first, she was a general volunteer, but her long-time connection to working with children and families led her to disaster mental health. Then, someone suggested that she would be a great fit for supporting military families and veterans through Service to the Armed Forces (SAF), a program going back to the beginning of the Red Cross.
That fit has turned out to be true and an echo of her dad’s often shared sentiment that “things will be as they’re meant to be.”
For nearly 14 years, Deb and Clark have traveled across the country, helping military families through deployments, separations, and loss. “This work is near and dear to my heart,” confesses Deb. Together, they’ve been to Michigan, Alabama, New Hampshire, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa and the Dakotas. They’ve also provided virtual support and training to service members and families in Hawaii and Japan.
She recalls one time at a military camp for kids. “Of course, the first day it rained, so we handed out garbage bags to keep the boys dry.” But one boy stood apart, telling everyone that he didn’t have a daddy, that he’d killed himself after Iraq. “It was profound. And it was amazing how the rest of the kids came together to support him,” she remembers.
Over the years, they’ve seen some kids multiple times – before and after deployments. “When they know us, they feel more comfortable and more willing to share,” says Deb. One boy told them, “Hey, I remember you guys!”
That familiarity matters when supporting kids and families through grief, laughter, and healing. Serving in partnership with her husband Clark helps, too. “We’ve learned to bounce off each other and it works. Play is our language,” she says. “And really, we should all play more.”
U.S. Army veteran and Red Cross volunteer Deb Perkins supports resiliency and other ’emotional grit’ workshops. Photo: Mutz Media
Today, Deb credits her military service for shaping her, helping her grow up. “I’m glad I did it,” she says. Her goal is to grow old with grace while continuing with the Red Cross. “Volunteer work helps you stay involved, connected, and giving back.”
To learn about current opportunities, pleasle visit RedCross.org/GiveTime.
In April 2022, the 
These services happen only with the outstanding efforts of our 
This May, Red Cross youth volunteers delivered messages of gratitude and Girl Scout cookies at Veterans Affairs clinics in Hibbing, MN and Superior, WI and to VA homes in Silver Bay and Fergus Falls. Photo credit: Dan Williams/
American Red Cross Minnesota and Dakotas Region 