Commendation Medal awarded to Womack’s Red Cross Leader | Article

FORT LIBERTY, NC – “The first 9-1-1 call I ever got was from a soldier trying to commit suicide. I continued to talk to him, trying to reassure him that everything would be okay, and I kept him on the phone until I could get emergency services to help him.”

That’s how Wanda Smith, chief of the Red Cross at Womack Army Medical Center, described her first attempt to help people on a personal level. At the time, she served as a 9-1-1 dispatcher with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department.

Smith saved that soldier’s life more than a decade ago. She even continued to follow him occasionally. “That is the moment I often return to,” she says. “I have always wanted to help people, make a difference in other people’s lives and I always return to that call.”

Last week, Smith received the Public Service Commendation Medal from the Department of the Army for her tireless service to soldiers and veterans at Womack Army Medical Center over the past several years.

As a Red Cross volunteer, Wanda has worked exclusively through the Service to the Armed Forces program, which supports military personnel, retired service members, veterans and their families in the central region of North Carolina. Since her time in law enforcement, she has served approximately 12,000 hours with the Red Cross.

Lauren Bolen, interim director of the American Red Cross, Armed Forces Service, recognizes the elite honor. “What Wanda does is no small feat,” she says. “Thanks to this ongoing collaboration, the hospital can run smoothly and the Red Cross volunteers remain involved. Her efforts are consistent, year after year, and it is not just an occasional effort. Wanda is there when the sun rises and after the sun sets, taking the time to get to know people and make volunteering at Womack feel like home.”

Smith is often seen delivering books and hygiene items to patients from the comfort cart she pushes around the medical center. She also helps members and their families navigate family, pre- and post-deployment challenges.

Smith also started the Green Disaster program, which sends soldiers away during deployments and tells them she will be there when they return. “The look on their faces when they come back and get off the plane and see me is priceless,” she says. “They’re like, oh my god, you weren’t kidding, you’re really here!”

When asked directly why she chooses to volunteer, Wanda humbly answers, “I don’t know. I just do it. It’s the people.”