it was founded by henry dunant, a swiss businessman, and still today, we honor him by using the reverse of the swiss flag for our symbol -- the red cross against a white background. >> returning to the united states, she founded the american red cross in 1881. and ever since then, the american red cross has been helping people in need. what are some of the big disasters the red cross responded to? >> the red cross has been responding to disasters since its beginnings in 1881, when there was a large wildfire across michigan. and early on, the red cross also responded to floods in johnstown, pennsylvania, when a dam broke, and a major hurricane that hit off of the coast of south carolina and georgia. the red cross still responds to major disasters today, in modern times, such as 9/11 and hurricane katrina, and even small disasters like everyday house fires. >> what about wars? >> the american red cross trained tens of thousands of nurses for world war i and world war ii, and it also helped with all the major conflicts throughout the 20th century. >> every year, the american red cross resp