When Duty Calls and Family Needs You

How the Hero Care Network united a father and son in a matter of hours

though they were  6,000 miles apart. 

On the night of May 3, 2025, John Zwerk, a man in his 70s but otherwise healthy, couldn’t fall asleep. His heart was beating too fast. Around 2 a.m., he asked to be taken to the hospital, where he was admitted for a condition called arrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat.

Over the next four days, medical staff ran tests and monitored him until it was discovered that a heart attack caused his symptoms. He was immediately air-lifted 180 miles from their rural community in northern California to a medical facility in a neighboring city. It was determined he’d need triple bypass surgery. His son, Kyle, a U.S. Army officer stationed halfway around the world in Germany, felt helpless.

“I was very concerned for my father's mortality, for his life. I was very concerned about how the procedure would go. I was afraid that my father was going to die, and I wasn't going to see him,” confessed Kyle. “I was very confused by what my options were.”

Kyle’s situation is one experienced by hundreds of active-duty servicemen and women each year. The brave men and women who answer the call to serve are often stationed far from home, only to receive the devastating news of a family emergency back home. Unlike civilians, returning home isn’t as simple as booking a flight. Due to the nature of their duties, service members must rely on the American Red Cross, the only organization chartered by Congress to independently verify emergencies for military commands so they can begin the process of returning home.

“I’ve been in [the military] for 16 years, so of course, I’ve heard of Red Cross messages,” shared Kyle, who was previously a company commander.

In the role, he dealt routinely with the Red Cross while on 24-hour staff duty. A caseworker would call with a message that he would then have to pass on to the applicable service member.

“[But] I never really understood what they were or the assistance that was provided to the families,” shared Kyle.

On May 8th, Kyle called the Hero Care Network. He wasn’t sure how the call would go and what would happen. But it was comforting to speak to a person on the other end of the line. “They were very attentive and understanding,” explained Kyle.

They asked questions like his full name and unit address. They also asked things he didn’t know like the phone number to his staff duty officer. The Red Cross helped him figure out the things he didn't know.

“There were certain things about my unit of assignment that I didn’t know, that the Red Cross figured out for me when I was asleep," Kyle said. "There were all these things happening in the background that the Red Cross took care of, which I very much appreciated.”

Kyle received a call from a staff duty officer on May 10th notifying him of the pending leave orders. He arrived home on the 11th, less than 72 hours from when he began his case with the Red Cross.

When he arrived at the hospital, he embraced his father and thanked his older brothers before they returned home after spending nearly a week at the ICU with their father. Kyle spent several more days in the ICU, attending to and caring for his father while he recovered from his procedure.

"The nurse told me it was very beneficial to have me there to help him,” said Kyle. The best part ─ Kyle got to spend some quality time with his father on the long drive home.

“I ended up actually driving him back from the hospital to home and that was like a five-hour drive. If I hadn’t been there, I don’t know what they would have done. I have no regrets about taking the time away,” he said.

Kyle’s father has recovered, but Kyle urges service members who may find themselves in his position to educate themselves.

“There are a lot of people who just don’t understand the full [Red Cross] mission. I’d just encourage people to understand that they have the Red Cross as a service to assist them at times of crisis,” explained Kyle.

“The Red Cross moved very quickly behind the scenes and definitely made all these things happen. I’m very thankful to my unit leadership and to the Red Cross for allowing me to be there for my family at that very pivotal time,” he said.

The American Red Cross supports members of the military, veterans, their families, survivors and caregivers stationed both in the U.S. and abroad. Learn more about the ways our mission improves the lives of the military community and how you can get involved, visit redcross.org/saf.