The Armed Services Blood Program (ASBP), the official provider of blood products to all of the U.S. military bases and installations, will be hosting a blood drive on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune at Headquarters and Support Battalion, building 8 on Feb. 25 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Since the program’s inception in 1952, more than 1.5 million units of blood have been transfused for battlefield illnesses and injuries. In the last 12 years, more than 150,000 units of blood were transfused on the battlefield.
“Our brothers and sisters get deployed all the time, and if they get struck by enemy fire, blood donations make saving lives possible,” said HM1 Stephen Thomson, lab technician with the Donor Clinic at Naval Medical Center.
The program is in need of O Positive, O Negative, AB Positive and AB Negative, all blood types are welcome.
Any active duty, family member, retiree, civilian or contractor who has access to base is eligible to donate.
“I choose to donate blood because I believe that if I have the capability to help my brothers and sisters in need, then that is what I will do,” said Cpl. Louis Pleasant, a radio technician with Headquarters and Support Battalion, Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.
For more information about the program, visit www.militaryblood.dod.mil.