What did the Red Cross do in Vietnam?

Red Cross staff served on military installations throughout South Vietnam, providing help with personal and family problems, help in emergency situations and aid with communications to and from home. At its peak in 1969, the Red Cross operated 67 field stations in Vietnam staffed by more than 200 field personnel.

What did the Red Cross do in the Vietnam War?

During the eight years of American combat activity in the war (1965-1972), the Red Cross handled more than 2,168,000 emergency communications between servicemen and their families. Red Cross field directors and chapter staff at home assisted an average of 27,800 servicemen each month with personal and family problems.

How did the Red Cross help during the war?

At home, millions of volunteers provided comfort and aid to members of the armed forces and their families, served in hospitals suffering from severe shortages of medical staff, produced emergency supplies for war victims, collected scrap, ran victory gardens, and maintained training programs in home nutrition, first ...

Why did the U.S. send aid to Vietnam?

Kennedy was concerned at the advances being made by the communist Viet Cong, but did not want to become involved in a land war in Vietnam. He hoped that the military aid would be sufficient to strengthen the Saigon government and its armed forces against the Viet Cong.

Does Red Cross treat soldiers?

As a neutral, impartial, and independent body, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) can offer humanitarian protection and assistance during armed conflicts.

Red Cross Simulation in the Mekong River Delta in Vietnam

Why is the Red Cross called the Red Cross?

The group, which eventually became known as the International Committee of the Red Cross, adopted the symbol of a red cross on a white background, an inverse of the Swiss flag, as a way to identify medical workers on the battlefield.

Can the Red Cross be attacked?

Medical workers must always be allowed to do their job and the Red Cross or Red Crescent must not be attacked. The sick or wounded have a right to be cared for, regardless of whose side they are on. Advances in weapons technology has meant that the rules of war have also had to adapt.

Did us help rebuild Vietnam?

In the Paris Peace Accords, the United States had agreed to provide $3.3 billion over five years to help rebuild the shattered infrastructure of Vietnam.

Does America Pay Vietnam?

The United States pays $22 billion per year in war compensations to Vietnam veterans and their families.

How did the US help South Vietnam?

The USA was afraid that communism would spread to South Vietnam and then the rest of Asia. It decided to send money, supplies and military advisers to help the South Vietnamese Government.

Why is the Red Cross important?

The American Red Cross helps vulnerable people around the world to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, armed conflicts and life- threatening health conditions. The American Red Cross accomplishes these goals by working within the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network.

When has the Red Cross helped?

September 4, 1881: Red Cross undertakes its first disaster relief effort aiding victims of Michigan forest fires. March 16, 1882: After years of relentless efforts by Clara Barton, the U.S. Senate ratifies the Geneva Convention of 1864. May 31, 1889: Red Cross responds to Johnstown, Pa., flood that kills over 2,000.

Why did the Red Cross charge for donuts?

"It keeps coming up, that they were charged for coffee and doughnuts," says Susan Watson, archivist for the Red Cross. The organization started charging only because the U.S. Secretary of War asked it to. British soldiers had to pay for their snacks, and the free doughnuts for Americans were causing tensions.

How many Donut Dollies died in Vietnam?

Three Donut Dollies died in Vietnam: one from an illness, one in a Jeep accident and one, newly arrived in 1970, was stabbed to death in her quarters in Cu Chi, outside Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City.

What did Donut Dollies do in Vietnam?

The women he wanted to thank were “Donut Dollies,” two among 600 women working with the American Red Cross who traveled to Vietnam to give a few hours of respite to troops longing for home, to play word games or just sit and chat.

What was a donut dolly in Vietnam?

Female Red Cross workers answered the call to duty again during the Korean War. In its early stages, they earned the endearing nickname, “Donut Dollies,” turning out up to 20,000 donuts a day for American Soldiers disembarking troop ships in Pusan. The Donut Dollies were most visible to troops serving in Vietnam.

Is Vietnam now a US ally?

As such, despite their historical past, today Vietnam is considered to be a potential ally of the United States, especially in the geopolitical context of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea and in containment of Chinese expansionism.

Are there still American soldiers in Vietnam?

Since the war's end, official U.S. government investigations have consistently concluded that no military personnel remain alive in Vietnam.

Are we still in debt from the Vietnam War?

Adjusted for inflation to today's U.S. dollars, the cost reaches $823 billion. Only a single war in U.S. history was financially costlier: the direct cost of World War II, in current dollars, was $4.1 trillion. The next-costliest war, the Vietnam War, cost only $738 billion in current dollars.

How much did Vietnam soldiers get paid?

Vietnam War

As the conflict progressed, new soldiers were given a salary of $78.00, while those who'd served over four months earned $83.20. In 1963, Combat Pay was renamed Hostile Fire Pay (HFP) and remained relatively the same.

What made the Vietnam War so hard to fight?

Fighting on familiar ground

They won the hearts and minds of the South Vietnamese people by living in their villages and helping them with their everyday lives. Their tunnel systems, booby-traps and jungle cover meant they were difficult to defeat and hard to find.

Why did US fail in Vietnam?

The Vietcong guerrillas knew the jungle and made use of elaborate underground bases and tunnels to shelter from US bombs, and often re-used unexploded American bombs against US soldiers. Failure of Search and Destroy (My Lai Massacre): Search and Destroy missions were often based on poor military intelligence.

Can you shoot medics in war?

According to the Geneva Convention, knowingly firing at a medic wearing clear insignia is a war crime.

What are the 5 laws of war?

Principles of the laws of war

Military necessity, along with distinction, proportionality, humanity (sometimes called unnecessary suffering), and honor (sometimes called chivalry) are the five most commonly cited principles of international humanitarian law governing the legal use of force in an armed conflict.

Is the red cross a war crime?

The emblem of the red cross on a white ground and the words “Red Cross” or “Geneva Cross” shall not be used either in time of peace or in time of war, except to protect or to indicate the medical formations and establishments and the personnel and material protected by the Convention.