By: Nadia Brown
American Red Cross volunteer Diana Buckley is a traveler. But she’s not simply a retiree who thirsts to see the world. She deploys regularly to disaster areas across the United States and its territories as part of Red Cross relief efforts to help people in need. Her most recent deployment took her some 5,800 miles west of San Francisco.
In May 2023, Typhoon Mawar passed north of Guam, a U.S. territory in the North Pacific Ocean, causing severe damage and knocking out power on the island. Mawar is the ninth and one of the more powerful typhoons to pass the island since 2020. Buckley traveled to Guam as part of a Red Cross disaster assessment team, arriving as the recovery operation was just underway.
“To me, it was a heartwarming moment that I had the chance to go to Guam,” Buckley recalls.
Buckley flew from Tyler, Texas, to Los Angeles, where she received an hour-long briefing with other responders before flying to Honolulu. There was a long layover before the responders all boarded a FEMA aircraft to fly eight more hours to Guam. Upon arriving, Buckley worked to determine where damaged homes and displaced people were in and around the Village of Dededo, on the northern end of Guam.
“The homes along the beaches and in the inland rural areas were the hardest hit. Most of them were just gone,” said Buckley. “The hotels, businesses and those with nicer homes inland had damage, but not as bad.”
While assigned to the disaster assessment team, Buckley also helped provide meals for the locals. She helped distribute food from a 55-passenger school bus with help from other volunteers. They would drive around, honk the horn and Buckley would yell out of the window, “Red Cross! Lunch!” or “Red Cross! Dinner!” depending on the meal they were serving.
“I’ve delivered food before, but handing out food from the school bus was a first for me,” said Buckley. The school bus drivers knew their routes and who needed food, so they drove the buses, Red Crossers and other volunteers around. Usually, three people would hand out food the Red Cross bought from local restaurants. “They had the biggest smiles on their faces.”
Buckley and the volunteers on the bus handed out 300 meals for lunch and another 300 meals at dinner daily. She helped feed the people of Guam up until her three-week assignment ended, and she left the island to return home.
Buckley met many locals through her work doing disaster assessment and feeding on the front lines of Mawar’s destruction. She quickly discovered their generosity to her and other Red Cross volunteers.
Buckley joined the Red Cross in May 2017 after seeing an ad on TV. The North Texas Region was recruiting volunteers to help with recovery efforts after an EF-4 tornado struck the city of Canton and other areas in Van Zandt County, Texas. The ad compelled Buckley to visit the local Red Cross Chapter in Tyler, where she donated financially and began her volunteer career.
“I've never been with the Red Cross, so I submitted my papers to the local chapter, and I've been with them ever since,” she said.
Before Buckley joined the Red Cross, she served in the United States Navy for 16 years. She uses the skills she developed in the Navy and her desire to help people to her advantage and takes on many volunteer opportunities with the Red Cross.
Before moving up to Disaster Action Team (DAT) coordinator, she joined the Disaster Cycle Services program and became a DAT responder. Eventually, she became an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) driver and coordinator, a position she’s held in the Red Cross Northeast Texas Chapter since 2018.
As a Red Cross volunteer, Buckley has been able to respond to numerous disasters and has traveled all around the world. In January of this year, she deployed to Monterey County, California, where she worked in a Red Cross shelter, helping ensure a good experience for residents seeking refuge from wildfires. She has been on at least 20 deployments to date. They’ve taken her from Texas to California, Mississippi to Arizona, and now Guam. The deployments have had a significant impact on Buckley’s life.
“During all of my deployments, I've always met somebody, and we’ve become friends,” Buckley said, mentioning that she’s still in contact with several people she has met on deployments. “You develop a comradery when you go on these deployments.”
Buckley’s commitment and service haven’t gone unnoticed. When she arrived home from Guam, the Clara Barton Award for Meritorious Volunteer Leadership awaited her. This is the highest honor the Red Cross bestows on volunteers. It recognizes Buckley as a community leader for the service she has provided so many people.
“When you work hard and believe in what you do for the Red Cross and the people you’re going to help, it pays off. It really does,” Buckley said proudly about receiving the award.
She didn’t stay put for long. Buckley deployed again just four days after arriving home to help communities near Tyler. She partnered with another Red Crosser to do disaster assessments in Giddings and Winsborro. She went out to talk with residents about the help the Red Cross provides after a disaster.
Diana Buckley is a woman who wears many hats. Her passion for the Red Cross and helping others is apparent in everything she does. She understands that her service is a mission, not a job. She imparts that insight to anyone who wants to join the Red Cross and deploy to help others.
“That a person really has to be dedicated and be eager to do their job,” she said. “They have to want to do the job for the Red Cross and the people before they even get on the plane to go.”
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