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Story
May 9, 1919
The Fayette Falcon
Somerville, Fayette County, Tennessee
What is this article about?
60-year-old Salvation Army 'lassie' Ma Burdick returns to New York after serving as a mother to thousands of American doughboys in France during WWI, braving shell fire, providing food and religious services, and recovering from illness.
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60-YEAR-OLD WAR HEROINE
Mother To Thousands of Doughboys With the American Expeditionary Forces Returns Home.
New York. - "Ma" Burdick, 60-year old Salvation Army "lassie," mother to thousands of doughboys with the American expeditionary forces returned to New York on the New Amsterdam from Brest.
At the front she worked under shell fire, her silvered head protected by a steel helmet. She cut off the rain and mud-soaked tails of the doughboys long coats and fashioned the remnants into fatigue caps.
She fried flapjacks over a stove fashioned from scrap metal and turned the toothsome batter-cakes with a scrap of tin roofing. Her hostel was sometimes a shell hole and sometimes a cellar or a barn. She moved her headquarters as the army moved, and found time to hold gospel meetings and song services at which many conversions were reported.
She finally worked herself into a condition of extreme physical weakness and was found lying ill in the loft of a shell torn stable. She was taken to a military hospital in Paris. When she recuperated she returned to the front.
Mrs. Burdick was among the first women war workers to arrive in France.
Mother To Thousands of Doughboys With the American Expeditionary Forces Returns Home.
New York. - "Ma" Burdick, 60-year old Salvation Army "lassie," mother to thousands of doughboys with the American expeditionary forces returned to New York on the New Amsterdam from Brest.
At the front she worked under shell fire, her silvered head protected by a steel helmet. She cut off the rain and mud-soaked tails of the doughboys long coats and fashioned the remnants into fatigue caps.
She fried flapjacks over a stove fashioned from scrap metal and turned the toothsome batter-cakes with a scrap of tin roofing. Her hostel was sometimes a shell hole and sometimes a cellar or a barn. She moved her headquarters as the army moved, and found time to hold gospel meetings and song services at which many conversions were reported.
She finally worked herself into a condition of extreme physical weakness and was found lying ill in the loft of a shell torn stable. She was taken to a military hospital in Paris. When she recuperated she returned to the front.
Mrs. Burdick was among the first women war workers to arrive in France.
What sub-type of article is it?
Biography
Heroic Act
Historical Event
What themes does it cover?
Bravery Heroism
Moral Virtue
Triumph
What keywords are associated?
War Heroine
Salvation Army
Doughboys
Wwi Service
Gospel Meetings
What entities or persons were involved?
Ma Burdick
Mrs. Burdick
Where did it happen?
France, New York
Story Details
Key Persons
Ma Burdick
Mrs. Burdick
Location
France, New York
Story Details
60-year-old Salvation Army worker Ma Burdick served with American Expeditionary Forces in France, working under shell fire, providing comfort to doughboys, holding gospel meetings, and enduring illness before returning home.