Red Cross Volunteer Empowers Others, Teaches International Humanitarian Law
- NEIA Red Cross
- 22 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Janet Flanagan
“Even war has rules.”
That’s what Laura Calese tells her Red Cross class.
Wait. What?
Why is a Red Cross volunteer talking about the rules of war?
Isn’t the Red Cross all about blood donations, CPR, fire safety, first aid and disaster response?
The answer is “Yes.” And the Red Cross is also involved in another service, that of promoting International Humanitarian Law.
It came about after 1859, when a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant, witnessed horrific suffering in Italy among wounded soldiers with no organized aid. Dunant later promoted rules protecting the wounded, which led to the first Geneva Convention in 1864. He helped establish the Red Cross as a leader in developing rules to limit suffering in conflict.
Laura Calese, a retired colonel in the United States Army and an attorney, has been teaching the topic for the past two years.
“Community colleges are among my favorite groups,” says Calese. “I teach veterans, members of the community and young people fresh out of high school with lots of energy. The variety encourages a lot of discussion, and those conversations are some of the very best we can have. I really enjoy it when it’s a cross section of ages, backgrounds, education levels and political viewpoints because it reinforces the universality and neutrality of the Red Cross.”
In classes, students might discuss the treatment of soldiers and civilians during World War II, the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse in Iraq and current conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza. The Red Cross has campaigned for standards to treat prisoners of war with dignity.
During war, legal issues routinely come up regarding detainees, Calese explains. There are tough topics, and people can have strong opinions. Some of the rules protect cultural treasures.
“War is violence,” she points out, “but there are still rules in it. Let’s have conversations about what these rules are. We give people a framework to help guide thinking about tough issues. We tell our classes ‘Here are the principles’ and we let people ask us questions. I don’t think we have ever had a dry conversation.”
Since Calese served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during her 26-year career, she has experience putting the principles of humanitarian actions into practice. Wearing fatigues and carrying a weapon, she interacted with a variety of individuals about fundamental rules.
Before and as a Red Cross volunteer, she taught hundreds of soldiers and law students, addressing the principles of the laws of war, as well as the rules intended to reduce suffering and to empower civilians to treat the wounded and the sick.
Some of her favorite conversations, she says, are with young people considering going into the military.
“In war, there is a visceral inability to withhold violence,” Calese says. “We need training to empower people with skills, so they can help people who are suffering and do it in the way that doesn’t judge who is right and wrong in a conflict.”
Calese describes herself as a military brat. Her father fought in Vietnam, and her husband has served in the U.S. Army as an engineer. She went straight from law school into the army. For three years, she served as the chief legal officer for Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha.
It was a colleague and her two daughters’ involvement in Red Cross high school blood drives that helped foster Calese’s interest in the Red Cross and IHL instruction.
Now living in Colorado, this Red Cross volunteer happily travels to voluntarily teach. It has helped her to value the United States more.
“You really appreciate our nation and the stability we offer,” she says. “We haven’t had [military] conflict in our backyards, but we all have some kind of vested interest in these topics, even if we don’t know it. All of us have a stake in humanitarian law.”