For over 140 years, the American Red Cross has cared for the humanitarian needs of our nation’s military. These services are spearheaded by dedicated volunteers, many of whom are military connected themselves. As we celebrate Military Appreciation Month this May, we honor the countless individuals who dedicate their lives to supporting the U.S. military through the Red Cross.
Jackie Walters has devoted her life to the Red Cross. Between volunteer and employment opportunities, she has worked with virtually every branch of the U.S. military and has provided the organization with her skills and expertise for over 60 years. Even as a child in the 1950s, she recalls her mother, who served with the Red Cross Hospital Service in War World II and continued to volunteer as a Service to Military Families and Disaster caseworker for the Johnstown, PA, chapter for over 30 years, using their home phone to help transmit emergency communication messages between deployed service members and their families, prior to the creation of the present-day Red Cross Hero Care Network. But it wasn’t until she got married and became a military spouse that she considered becoming a Red Crosser herself.
“In those days, there wasn’t really organized advocacy for military spouses,” said Jackie, “and, of course, there was no remote work.”
Life as a military spouse was and continues to be quite challenging. Frequent moves make it hard to keep a career. Sometimes the moves are to places where you don’t speak the language or are far away from your support system. Jackie’s husband, who initially joined the Navy to avoid getting drafted during the Vietnam War, made a career of the military. What started as a few years of commitment turned into 26 years of service. Jackie and their son, Christopher, would move eight times. The family chose to embrace the constant change and make the most of every assignment. Jackie says she loved her life while her husband served, owing much of her success to the Red Cross.
“Everywhere we went, the Red Cross was there. That was my connection to getting to know a new community," she says. “It was a place to go and start to meet people and do something besides taking care of our home.”
Jackie first started as a clinic volunteer at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital and continued to volunteer at the hospital at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. At her third duty station at the Naval Hospital in Bremerton, Washington state, she was ready for something new and switched to doing casework until a manager, impressed by her dedication, asked her to lead the volunteer program there.
“I said, I’ve never run a volunteer program, and he said, that’s ok. I’m going to send you to training and we’ll teach you how to do it. And that was really the start of my Red Cross career. The Red Cross gave me opportunities that no one would have paid me to do based on my resumé.”
When her family relocated to Washington, D.C., she assumed roles as an event and conference planner at the Red Cross national headquarters. She later trained caseworkers on how to deliver services to military families and even revised a programming manual. During this time, Jackie also started volunteering for the Red Cross Historian/Archivist, a position she continues remotely from her current home in North Carolina.
Her most memorable experience was a deployment to Germany in 2021 in support of Operation Allied Refuge during the Afghan refugee crisis. "I was gone within 24 hours of getting the call. I stayed there for three weeks, managing volunteers and learning about disaster accounting," she shared. “It was such a privilege to be asked to go, and I came home so proud of the work the Red Cross does and the incredible response of the American military and their families who dropped everything to work around the clock helping people who had lost everything.”
Throughout her career, Jackie has faced challenges and she’s thankful to the Red Cross for the opportunities the organization has provided her as a military spouse. But it’s the mission and the people she meets that have kept her motivated to volunteer in the years after her husband retired.
"I believe in the mission. I believe in what we're doing,” she says. “I believe in the support we provide to our armed forces. And I just love the people I've worked with.”
Jackie's story is a testament to the invaluable support the Red Cross provides to military families and the opportunities it offers for military spouses to get involved, connected, and sometimes even employed. Her advice to those interested in volunteering?
"Be persistent,” she says. “Look for opportunities that fit your interests and be persistent in pursuing them. And be willing to take a chance and do something new."
As we honor service members, military spouses and families this Military Appreciation Month, Jackie's story inspires us to recognize the incredible contributions of volunteers just like her across the country and around the world and the enduring partnership between the American Red Cross and the U.S. military.
About the American Red Cross:
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission. For more information, please visit redcross.org or CruzRojaAmericana.org, or follow us on social media.
Support all the urgent humanitarian needs of the American Red Cross.
Find a drive and schedule a blood donation appointment today.
Take a class and be ready to respond if an emergency strikes.
