People know the Red Cross for a lot of things — disaster response, blood donation, health and safety classes — but one of the unsung roles of our organization is to support military families and keep them in touch with loved ones overseas.

With Memorial Day just around the corner, I thought it would be nice to honor that relationship (called Service to the Armed Forces) with a few videos that I hope will educate all of us about this important responsibilty.

WARNING: You might pull out some Kleenex for the first one.

On a related note, we are thrilled that Laura Fields is going to be joining us very soon as the manager of Service to Military Families for Oregon.

Although she’s been hired by national headquarters, she’s going to be located in our building and will start her work supporting these Oregonians on June 2. Welcome, Laura!