In 1962, the American Red Cross sent its first paid field staff to Vietnam to assist the growing number of servicemen at various bases and hospitals. At the height of its involvement in 1968, 480 field directors, hospital personnel, and recreation assistants served throughout Southeast Asia. Red Cross workers, who provided 1.9 million services to U.S. military personnel, shared the hardships and privations of war with the soldiers. Five Red Cross staff members gave their lives, and many others were injured as they helped servicemen resolve personal problems or get home when emergency leave was granted due to death or serious illness in their immediate family.

Male nurses and sanitarians sponsored by the Red Cross worked with Indochinese refugees in cooperation with the South Vietnam Red Cross and the U.S. Agency for International Development. When Vietnam veterans returned to the United States, Red Cross paid and volunteer staff concentrated on helping them readjust to civilian life, often assisting them with paperwork connected with their benefits.

American Red Cross Specialists Provide Social Welfare Services in 45 Refugee Camps in Vietnam
The nurse examines a child at Binh Son, South Vietnam, in October 1968, at one of the 45 camps that helped refugees. An all-male team of 10 American Red Cross specialists provided various services for the tens of thousands of refugees who flooded the camps during the war. Camp personnel offered instruction in rudimentary hygiene, provided social welfare services, and made medical assistance available. Refugees also participated in Red Cross carpentry, masonry, and sanitation projects.

Recreation Workers Boost Morale of American Troops During Vietnam War
Bound by its charter to provide welfare services to the able-bodied troops on duty, the American Red Cross engaged in efforts to sustain the morale of the troops in Vietnam, just as it had during the Korean War and previous conflicts. In response to a request by the military, the Red Cross sent teams of young female college graduates to Southeast Asia to conduct audience-participation recreation programs for men stationed in isolated sections of the region. For example, the recreation worker pictured above checks a GI's blindfold during a game at Fire Base Jamie, one of several front-line areas visited regularly by the American Red Cross.

A monthly average of 280,500 servicemen took part in recreation programs at 20 major military commands. Officials estimate that the clubmobile workers, who traveled by jeep, truck, and helicopter, logged over 2,125,000 miles during the program's 7-year history. Trained Red Cross personnel also engaged in therapeutic recreation, which was geared to patients' individual rehabilitation needs.

In 1976, despite protests from commanding officers, the recreation program was drastically reduced in a cost-reduction action that removed professional recreation personnel from military hospitals.

The American Red Cross and the Cuban Red Cross Aid Cuban Dissidents Following Bay of Pigs Invasion (1963)
The American Red Cross joined the Cuban Red Cross to help the Cuban Families Committee arrange the release of 751 Cuban exiles and their families following the aborted Bay of Pigs invasion in 1963. Between December 1962 and July 1963, the Red Cross provided Cuba with children's food and medical supplies that amounted to $53 million. The independent relief effort, which was monitored by the U.S. government, was organized and implemented by volunteers, including businesses, airline and trucking companies, insurance firms, shipping outfits, and labor unions that donated their services.

Following the release of the exiles, Red Cross volunteers were on-hand in Florida to distribute comfort items to the former prisoners, manning canteens, assisting with transportation and temporary housing arrangements, and rendering nursing services. The U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp in October 1963 to honor the centenary of the International Red Cross. Based on the photograph above, the stamp pictured the freighter S.S. Morning Light, which carried the 751 Cuban refugees.

Operation Babylift Helps Orphans Fleeing Southeast Asia (1975)
Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1974, tens of thousands of refugees fled Indochina. Operation Babylift flew some 2,000 infants and toddlers to the United States under the auspices of various agencies that were authorized to arrange for the adoption of Indochinese orphans in that country. Teams of American Red Cross nurses, other volunteers, and paid staff worked around the clock to greet the exhausted infants and children, provide them with nursing care, and help military authorities set up emergency nurseries. Some 3,150 Red Cross volunteers contributed 27,000 hours of care during a 35-day period.

After the fall of the South Vietnamese and Cambodian governments, the American Red Cross entered into the next stage of the Indochinese civilian relief operation, Operation New Life.

American Red Cross Participates in Operation New Life (April 23, 1975)
Operation New Life brought 130,000 refugees to various points in the Pacific (the Philippines, Guam, and Wake Island) for eventual resettlement in the United States and other countries. American Red Cross chapter paid and volunteer staff provided assistance at refugee camps in Guam and the United States and helped with the resettlement of over 100,000 refugees in communities across the country. Red Cross chapter volunteers helped the refugees adjust to American culture by teaching English, providing transportation, helping to solve problems with government benefit programs, giving emergency assistance, and by letting the refugees know that help was available.

In 1979, the number of "boat people" increased, and the American Red Cross joined other organizations to provide aid. It also recruited doctors and nurses for service in Thailand, where starving Cambodians sought refuge after fleeing their Communist-dominated homeland.

The Red Cross established an international tracing service at national headquarters, which began operation on August 18, 1975, building a list of over 40,000 individuals who sought or were sought by relatives.