WEBVTT

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[Narrator] War.

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War never changes,

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^but as our tools of destruction advance,

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^so did our tool for saving life.

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In 1940, one of the most important of these tools

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came from an African American man

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from a racially segregated Washington DC.

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Nazi Germany was engaged in a prolonged

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bombing campaign of the British mainland.

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Britain was in desperate need of donated blood.

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But with British infrastructure in ruins,

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they needed to turn elsewhere for aid.

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The American Red Cross answered that call.

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But with over 4,000 miles

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standing between America and Britain,

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a new problem arose.

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Getting the blood overseas without it spoiling.

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To solve this problem,

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the Red Cross turned to Charles Drew.

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Despite Drew being an African American

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during the height of racial discrimination in America,

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his expertise in the field of blood research

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could not be denied.

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He was asked to lead the Blood For Britain Project,

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The world's first large scale blood drive.

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Drew set the standard for separation of blood plasma,

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allowing it to be transported overseas for use.

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Thousands of British lives were saved because of Drew

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and his revolutionary methods.

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The Red Cross came to Drew again

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once the US became involved in the war.

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Drew built on what he learned during the

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Blood For Britain program

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and made it better.

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He even invented the world's first blood mobile.

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Ironically, the armed forces initially barred Drew

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from donating blood to the program

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that he himself created.

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All because of his race.

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Drew fought against the policy saying,

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- [Drew] "One can say quite truthfully

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that on the battlefields,

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nobody is very interested in where the plasma comes from."

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- [Narrator] His legacy as the father of the blood bank,

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and the man who helped save millions

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of service members lives

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survives to this day.