Maine Memory Network

Mildred Burrage spent her summers in Giverny between the years 1909 and 1914 along other students from the prestigious Wheeler School of Providence, Rhode Island. In August 1914, her father travelled to France to collect her shortly after the outbreak of war.

Upon leaving France, Mildred Burrage remained in communication with the family of her closest friend, Janet Johnston. The Johnstons stayed in France after August 1914, establishing a hospital for wounded soldiers. Dr. William Johnston, Janet’s father, wrote to fellow Americans back home requesting supplies and financial support for their relief efforts.

In this letter, dated 25 November 1914, Dr. Johnston writes to Mildred thanking her and her family for the generous donations. He is also hopeful Mildred will be able to return to France in the spring, writing “Either the Germans will be out of France for good and all, or you will be directing letters to Givernisch, on Seine, Germany, and will on arriving here will have your ticket taken by a uniformed individual in a spiked helmet”.

The Johnstons would remain in France until 1916, when they returned to the United States.

Prior to American involvement in WWI, men and women joined the war effort, specifically in relief or medical capacities. Mobile Hospital No. 39, also known as the Yale Unit Mobile Hospital, was established in 1916 by Dr. Joseph Marshall Flint, professor of surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. The mobile hospital was staffed by Yale medical faculty and students and was funded by the Yale Corporation.

Dr. Joseph Flint, pictured at center, was originally from Connecticut, but retired to Seal Harbor, Maine. The photograph also includes Dr. Albion H. Little of Portland. Dr. Little (front row, third from the right) was a Captain with the Yale Unit, specializing in ophthalmology.

In 1916, National Guard troops from Maine, New Hampshire and Missouri were sent to Laredo, Texas along the Rio Grande to join the Mexican Border Guard. This satirical poem describes life stationed on the Rio Grande through the eyes of the Devil, who thinks it such "Hell" that even he doesn't want to be there.

The devil, we’re told, in hell was chained,
And a thousand years he there remained,
He never complained, nor did he groan;
But determined to start a hell of his own,
Where he could torment the souls of men
Without being chained to a prison pen.
So he asked the Lord if He had on hand
Anything left when He made the land.
The Lord said, “Yes, I had plenty on hand
But I left it down on the Rio Grande.
The fact is, old boy, the stuff is so poor,
I don’t think you could use it in hell anymore.

The soldier’s attitude towards the Rio Grande is summed up by the anonymous author as…

The heat in the summer is a hundred and ten, Too hot for the devil and too hot for men.

Fort Williams was constructed in the late 19th Century as part of a national program to establish improved coastal fortifications. Before and during the war, the fort was manned by the American military, including cadets. A precursor to the ROTC, cadet enrolment was open to boys over the age of 14 and affiliated with universities.

Cadet training finds its roots in the American Civil War. Land-grant universities, like the University of Maine, were required to provide military training. In anticipation for war, the National Defense Act established the ROTC in 1916, formalizing the cadet training process.

The young men pictured here are members of the cadet baseball team at Fort Williams in 1913.

In March 1917, weeks prior to the United States declaring war on Germany, a preparedness parade was held in Portland. Troops from the forts throughout Casco Bay marched to demonstrate local preparedness for potential war. The parade marched along Congress Street, seen here at Monument Square.