Survival Tales Mark Red Cross Centennial

Clio Wetmore, 86, made the trek from her home in Laguna Hills to Anaheim on Saturday to thank the American Red Cross for saving her life 56 years ago.

As a prisoner of war in the Philippines during World War II, Wetmore said that she and her family would have starved without the money the Red Cross provided to purchase food from outside the Japanese prison camp.

“The Japanese didn’t feed us, they merely made up rules of conduct,” Wetmore recalled. “We owe our lives to the Red Cross.”

Wetmore was one of more than 100 people who celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Red Cross in Orange County. The organization got its start locally when a small group of women gathered in Santa Ana to roll bandages for American troops fighting in the Spanish-American War.

Last year, the Red Cross responded to 206 disasters in Orange County. It provided meals, clothing and emergency shelter to 204 families beset by fire, floods and other problems. The organization also administered 5,144 flu shots in the county and served thousands of people through health classes and disaster preparedness training.

The Orange County Red Cross kicked off its 100th birthday by recording oral histories from residents who used its services.

Ken Lightbody, 81, of Yorba Linda spoke with gratitude of the food packages that the Red Cross sent to his prisoner-of-war camp in Italy during World War II.

Lightbody was a tank driver with the 1st Armored Division fighting in Africa during the battle of Casserine, where he was wounded and subsequently sent to a German prison camp.

“The weekly packages from the Red Cross were the high point of our week,” Lightbody said. The packages included beef, evaporated milk and cigarettes. It “kept us going,” he said, noting that the Germans only provided them a bowl of rice once a day.

More recently, Red Cross workers assisted 37 Westminster families displaced when their homes were flooded by last month’s water tank rupture.

Five Red Cross volunteers from Orange County are on assignment in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Puerto Rico, assisting victims of Hurricane Georges, with an additional six on stand by.

The Ruggiero family of Anaheim attended the birthday party to thank the Red Cross for providing clothes, food and furniture when they lost their home in an April fire. Bob Ruggiero said he was “amazed” by the treatment his family received.

“They treated us so well; the complete focus was on us,” he said.