By Sabrina Benedetti, Red Cross writer
“I was just floored and grateful. When you have a loss like that, you realize you don't get moments back. Having my sons there was a gift. That's truly what it felt like, a gift.”
On May 24th, 2026, Angela Boyle made a call she never imagined. She told her three sons, stationed at separate military bases, that their grandfather, her father, Scott Mulrenin, had passed away suddenly from a heart attack.
Only minutes earlier, when Angela was arriving at her father's hospital, she was prepared to work on a recovery program. Instead, doctors met her with an end-of-life plan.
Under a flood of emotions, she followed her resources and called the American Red Cross to notify them of her father’s passing. Within hours, her son Austin, who serves in the Air National Guard at the Pease Air Force Base from Israel, called her to say he was on his way home.
Heading back to his home of Eliot, Maine, Austin was followed by his brothers Gavin and Ethan. Gavin serves in the Army at Fort Moore in Georgia, and Ethan serves in the Army Guard at the Army Reserve in Bangor, Maine. Across branches and borders, all three Boyle brothers arrived home within days.
“There was no waiting, and we were all going to be together,” Angela reflected, “Because of the Red Cross, we were all able to be together to honor my father and send him off with dignity and respect. That meant so much to our entire family.”
Soon after her sons returned home, Angela received a video of Austin and his son in their kitchen, practicing military Taps together.
She saw Austin play Taps once again in his uniform at her father's service. By the water at Peirce Island in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Gavin saluted the flag, and Ethan handed their grandmother the folded flag.
“Those moments were so much more meaningful because they were there in person. It wasn't just someone else doing it for us. It was family,” said Angela.
Her three sons follow in the footsteps of their grandfather who was a Vietnam War veteran. He carried a lot of pain from his experience and did not sign up for his veterans' benefits until the same day he signed up for hospice care.
Months before his passing, Scott took photos with his three grandsons in their green uniforms. In the photos, he wore his veteran hat.
Remembering the day they took photos at Fort McClary, Angela said, “Someone who used to feel so beaten up from the commitments he made to his country was now sitting alongside three of his grandsons who so proudly serve. It was a moment of feeling like he is honorable.
“I feel like we were able to send him off the way he deserved. Without the Red Cross making it possible for my sons to come home, I don't think we would have had that,” said Angela.
The American Red Cross processes over 1,300 emergency communications daily, important messages tied to families just like Angela’s. Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces (SAF) teams are there, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to support those who serve and their loved ones, from enlistment to life after service.
This support is provided by a global network of Red Cross staff and volunteers, who are located at 35 international offices, 140 military medical facilities, and 170 veterans care facilities worldwide.
At a recent SAF tabling event, Angela B-lined to the table and hugged the Red Crosser. “I felt like I needed to seek out the Red Cross just to say thank you,” said Angela.
To the volunteer caseworkers who supported her sons coming home, Angela says, “I would just give them a hug and say thank you.
“I want people to know that there are positive things and that it will be okay. Use your resources, communicate, and have faith in the opportunities that are out there.”
To learn more about volunteer and employment opportunities, visit redcross.org/saf , or visit here to hear from SAF Mobile Staff Members located around the globe.
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