By Ashley Henyan, regional communications director, American Red Cross of the National Capital & Greater Chesapeake Region

The American Red Cross program known as Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) existed from 1953 to 1973 and involved about 1,600 staff over the years—all women.  During the conflict in Vietnam, approximately 600 of these women traveled overseas to serve alongside U.S. service members as part of this program.

Betsy Tanner, current president of the American Red Cross Overseas Association (ARCOA), was one of nearly two dozen Vietnam-era SRAO team members who helped staff a Red Cross tent on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on May 9 to help commemorate 50 years since the conflict in Vietnam.

“The nurses over in Vietnam healed our bodies—but it was you women, the Red Cross women, who healed our hearts and minds,” said a veteran attending the commemoration as he passed by the Red Cross tent.

The SRAO program aimed to provide U.S. service members in Vietnam with group recreational activities at bases and brigade headquarters beginning in 1965. Betsy packed her bags in September 1968; and after a two-week training from the Red Cross, she headed off for a year overseas to help bring smiles to the faces of those serving on the front lines.

“It was probably one of the most impactful years of our lives,” said Betsy, who now lives in Colorado.

At the time, to apply with Red Cross SRAO, women had to be between the ages of 21 and 24, single and college graduates.

“We’d organize ping-pong tournaments, bring them Kool-Aid and coffee and just find a way to get a laugh or two out of the guys – anything to give them a break from what they were doing, from the hell of war,” Betsy said.

Betsy recalled that four SRAO team members met their husbands while in Vietnam and that everyone she worked with overseas came home to live fulfilling lives in the U.S.

“It’s a bond that immediately you [and fellow SRAO volutneers] are great friends because you’ve been through the same experience,” Betsy said.

During the commemoration on the National Mall, a formation of chinook helicopters flew overhead—sending shivers down the spines of every Vietnam-era Red Crosser. 

Dr. Michael Jordan, Vice President for Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces & International Services, also stopped by on May 9 to recognize those who gave so much of their time and hearts with the Red Cross in Vietnam.

“I was so honored to recognize our Red Crossers who deployed down range during the Vietnam war over 50 years ago. I listened to their stories and continue to stand in awe at the resilience they demonstrated and their determination to serve our troops despite the personal hardship and danger,” said Jordan. “And I will never forget the five who were killed in Vietnam while doing this noble work.”

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The Red Cross has been serving the U.S. military for more than 140 years and has deployed alongside troops in every U.S. conflict since the Spanish-American War. Find out more or get involved at RedCross.org/SAF