[ampaterry]

Pipeman, there were a LOT of stories from WWII vets about this.
For DECADES, the Red Cross denied these allegations, in effect calling all those servicemen liars.
Then, much more recently, they stopped denying it. Now, they claim that the British relief agencies did not have as much funding as the American agencies, so were forced to charge the GI's for coffee and donuts, and requested that the US do likewise to keep them from looking bad. Supposedly, they have a directive from an upper-echelon military officer telling them to charge.

They continue to deny it in more recent events like the Alask flood, the Elaska Earthquake, Katrina, etc., yet there is a lot of first-hand testimony to the fact that they continue this practice today.