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.Volunteer
Special Services
The volunteer special services consisted of
unpaid volunteers who freely donated their time and service to the American
Red Cross. The following Volunteer Corps of the American Red Cross existed
during World War II (listed in alphabetic order and with corps colors
in the background):
.
.Administration
Corps
.
| Service: |
.. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
|
21,347 qualified volunteers (1943) |
| Duty: |
|
Provided administrative support and direction
to the programs of the other corps in the Volunteer Special Services. |
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|
.Arts
and Skills Corps
.
| Service: |
. |
Established in 1944. |
| Strength: |
. |
6,645 qualified volunteers
(1945) |
| Duty: |
. |
Aided in the rehabilitation of disabled veterans
in 105 hospitals by giving them an opportunity to do creative and constructive
work under the instruction and direction of artists and craftsmen. |
.
. |
|
.Braille
Corps
.
| Service: |
. |
Ceased operations in 1942 |
| Strength: |
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3,714 qualified volunteers (1942) |
| Duty: |
|
Transcribed written documents for use by the
blind. The Braille Corps ceased operations in 1942 on the national level
because technical advances in transcription rendered this service less
essential. |
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|
.Canteen
Corps
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| Service: |
. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
|
105,571 volunteers (1943) |
| Duty: |
|
Served snacks and meals, primarily in the
United States, at major transportation points, military posts, and at Red
Cross blood donor centers, childcare centers, and schools. |
. |
|
Home Service Corps
.
| Service: |
. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
|
16,033 volunteers (1944) |
| Duty: |
|
Provided care to the families of service members
of the United States Armed Forces. |
. |
|
.Hospital
and Recreation Corps
(Gray Ladies)
.
| Service: |
. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
|
49,882 qualified volunteers (1944) |
| Duty: |
|
Provided a variety of hostess and recreational
services in over 1,000 military and veteran hospitals, which included assistance
in writing letters, reading to patients, personal tutoring, performing
errands, and numerous other non-medical duties within the hospitals. |
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Motor Corps
.
| Service: |
|
Throughout World War II |
| Strength : |
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44,668 volunteers (1943) |
| Duty: |
|
Transported the sick and wounded, delivered
supplies and drove volunteers and nurses to and from their duty stations,
mostly by using their own cars. Many were trained as auto mechanics in
order to make repairs on their vehicles, because of the shortage of facilities
during wartime. |
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|
Production Corps
..
| Service: |
|
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
|
3,500,000 volunteers (1943) |
| Duty: |
|
Fabricated and repaired 64 million pieces
of clothing, made over 2.5 billion surgical dressings and assembled over
31 million comfort kit bags and other articles for the Allies and civilian
wartime victims. This work was performed by committees and organized
by task. The women worked in close social comradeship in Red Cross chapter
buildings, schools, churches and home workrooms. The instructions, patterns
and supplies were distributed by the national headquarters to the local
chapters, and each was assigned to fill a certain quota. This was the largest
corps. It was very popular because no special qualifications were required,
and social friendship prevailed in the 3,304 chapters where the Production
Corps was active. |
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Staff Assistance Corps
.
| Service: |
. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
|
128,214 volunteers (1944) |
| Duty: |
|
provided office chores and administrative
support for Red Cross locations, such as hospitals, chapters, and other
locations. |
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Volunteer Dietitian’s Aide
Corps
.
| Service: |
.. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
. |
7,730 volunteers (1944) |
| Duty: |
. |
Help fill the critical shortages of dietary
departments within 260 military and civilian hospitals. |
.
..
|
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Volunteer Nurse's Aides
Corps
..
| Service: |
. |
Throughout World War II |
| Strength: |
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110,170 volunteers (1944) |
| Duty: |
|
Provided vital assistance to nurses within
hospitals.
Click here
for full description of this program ("Guide for the Training of Volunteer
Nurses' Aides"). |
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