On Veterans Day, ImpactLife salutes service and sacrifice of U.S. Veterans

Published by Kirby Winn on Friday, November 6, 2026 in News Releases

Heroes For Life T-shirt — The blood center's "Heroes For Life" shirt is available in the ImpactLife Donor Rewards Store.

This week on Veterans Day (Nov. 11) ImpactLife honors the longstanding connection between transfusion medicine, blood donation, and the U.S. Armed Services. It's a connection that begins with many blood donors reporting early experiences with blood donation while serving in the military. And many of the most significant developments in blood collection, testing, shipment and storage have come about in relation to treating patients who suffered wounds on the battlefield.

Service members and veterans groups alike support the blood supply, with active duty and reserve units regularly hosting blood drives throughout our region, including blood drives held at Scott Air Force Base, Rock Island Arsenal, and National Guard units across the ImpactLife service region.

Alan Grimme 75 — ImpactLife blood donor Alan Grimme made his first donation while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He has continued to give regularly over the years, making his 75th donation on his 75th birthday earlier this year.

Alan Grimme is a frequent donor who recalls his first donation while on active duty in the U.S. Marine Corps. "I was stationed in Okinawa and of course you had guys coming back from Vietnam," says Grimme of his first opportunity to give blood. "I believe they had a blood drive on base, which prompted me give for the first time. I would have been 20 years old at the time." He has now made 77 lifetime donations, and gave for the 75th time on his 75th birthday earlier this year.

In sharing appreciation for the commitment and shared sacrifice of veterans across our region, ImpactLife invites all eligible donors to honor those who served by scheduling an appointment for blood donation during the week of Veterans Day.

To book an appointment for blood donation, call (800) 747-5401, text LIFESAVER to 999-777, or schedule online at www.bloodcenter.org or via the ImpactLife mobile app (www.bloodcenter.org/app). Donors will earn points that can be used to order the "Heroes For Life" T-shirt from the ImpactLife Donor Rewards Store.

Military Medicine and Early Innovation in Blood Banking

The evolution of blood banking is inseparable from the demands of military medicine. Faced with unprecedented numbers of battlefield casualties in the early 20th century, medical teams and researchers developed practical solutions — from anticoagulant use and plasma preservation to mobile collection units — that transformed the ability to deliver transfusions where and when they were needed most.

Military campaigns create intense, real-world laboratories for experimentation. Working in the early years of World War II, Dr. Charles Drew developed techniques for blood storage, and applied his knowledge to help develop large-scale blood banks that allowed medics to save thousands of Allied forces' lives during the war.

These developments helped medical scientists learn to prevent the clotting of collected blood, stabilize blood and plasma for shipment, and organize rapid collection and distribution systems under austere conditions. Wartime adaptations were rapidly translated into peacetime hospitals and community blood programs, leading directly to the first hospital blood repositories and, ultimately, the national systems in place today that keep blood available for surgeries, trauma care, and chronic treatments.

Opportunities to Give Blood on Veterans Day

ImpactLife invites donors to honor the commitment and sacrifice of our nation's veterans by giving blood during the week of Veterans Day (Weds., Nov. 11).

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