Posted on 09/12/2017 6:24:01 PM PDT by Kalamata
I had to donate money to them. My wife wanted it, so...I gotta keep the peace and do it. Not a small amount, either. But she had her mind set on it.
Many years ago, earlier in my career, I met a man in his nineties who had been wounded in WWI, and he nearly spit on the ground when he talked about being in the hospital when the Red Cross came around. They made them pay for everything they gave including cigarettes. He was angry about that. He contrasted it with the Salvation Army, which he said gave everything for free, no questions asked. The way he told it to me made quite an impression on me.
If I give money to that kind of organization now, it is the Salvation Army that gets it.
I went to the video link provided above, and in the comments section, people were talking about how this selling of cigarettes to wounded men took place in Vietnam and in WWII...it makes it sound like an urban legend, but...this guy sure sounded convincing to me.
While stationed at Ft. Eustis,Va. in the late 50's early 60's, he refused to allow the RC on his ship to collect donations. The SHTF and he was ordered to do so. He than placed an armed guard in front of his ship and only allowed members of his crew on. His commander got the idea.
The Red Cross has never gotten a cent from my family. And never will.
Ed
My WWII vet parents both had nothing but hatred for the Red Cross, with praise for the Salvation Army. Lots of older Vets felt the same way...the RC must not be doing the honorable thing.
I’m glad to hear how your Dad did the right thing even though ordered not to. Thanks!
I’ve posted a couple times about my grandpa’s WWI experience with the Red Cross and Salvation Army in France. His dislike for the Red Cross was abundant and he insisted that none of his family was to ever walk past a Salvation Army kettle without contributing and thanking the bell ringer. I’ve passed it on to my children and ignore anything Red Cross.
My Father was in the 11th Armored Div, CCB halftracks at the Battle of the Bulge.
He told me the the Red Cross tried to sell them the coffee after the fight and back at the rear for repairs.
Dad said there Tracs commander (a Sergeant) convinced them that the coffee was free, at the business end of a Thompson.
That should have been THEIR Tracs commander.
Except for the Thompson bit...:^) my wife's uncle who was also in the Battle of the Bulge said exactly the same thing.
He also praised the Salvation Army.
Ed
Red Cross has been price gouging for blood for as long as I can recall....they get zero from me.
I feel the same way. I always put money in any Salvation Army bell ringer I see, even if there are a bunch in a row.
I lump in the Red Cross with the likes of the United Way. When I was in the Navy, we were forced, to the point of requiring us, to donate part of our pay to the United Way.
This was back in the Seventies. I resented it, and not because as a very junior enlisted man (E3 when they began doing this) I wasn’t making much money...it was the compulsion.
This has colored my giving to this day. It is one of the reasons the book “Atlas Shrugged” resonated with me, because being forced to do a good deed by a government ceases to make it a good deed.
A good friend who served in Pacific in WW 2 told me that US servicemen basically HATED Red Cross as in with bullets flying Red Cross was charging them for coffee and donuts. They did love the Salvation Army which they affectionately called Sallies who charged nothing.
Yep- my old, dearly departed boss said the same thing. He was in the Pacific in WWII, said they charged our guys for cigarettes.
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