Sioux Cityan’s Mate Missing
Capt. Burdick Is Reported Lost in North Africa
Capt. F. D. Burdick, husband of Sioux City women, has been reported missing in action in North African fighting.
Mrs. Burdick, who lives with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Petersen, 901 20th Street, said Sunday night that a message from the war department revealed he had been missing since February 1, but divulged no details.
Capt. Burdick was a surgeon at Shenandoah, Iowa, before he entered service in February, 1941. He was at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, a year, then went to Northern Ireland, February 17, 1942. He was with the American forces which invaded Algeria last November 8, and later served in Turisia. He is an infantry battalion surgeon.
Capt. and Mrs. Burdick have a son, Bruce, 3, who live here with his mother and grandparents.
Source: The Sioux City Journal-Tribune, March 1, 1943
ONE PRISONER, ONE IS MISSING
Fate of Sioux Cityans Kin Is Revealed by Army
One Sioux City man has been reported a prisoner of war and another missing in action in the north African war theater by the adjutant general of the War Department in Washington.
Private Lloyd A. Stein, 28, son of Mr. and Mrs. B. W. Stein, 1713 Douglas street, was reported Sunday to have been missing in action since February 17. He entered the Army in May, 1941, and before going to Africa had been stationed at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana; Fort Dix, New Jersey; and later in Ireland. His parents last heard from him in a letter dated January 21.
Capt. F. D. Burdick, infantry battalion surgeon with the allied forces in Tunisia, has been reported a prisoner of the Italians.
Mrs. Burdick, who is living with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Petersen, 901 20th street, said Sunday that Capt. Burdick previously had been reported missing in action since February 1.
Capt. Burdick, a former Shenandoah, Ia., surgeon, entered the armed forces in 1941 and after serving a year in the United States was transferred to Northern Ireland in February, 1942, and had been serving in north Africa until the time of his capture.
Mrs. Burdick told of an incident that her husband mentioned in one of his letters. He and his men built a hospital by digging a hole in the side of a mountain, it said, and built the outer walls of 2,000 gasoline cans filled with dirt. Lights were supplied by a generator and Capt. Burdick’s letter said all the equipment used in the hospital was homemade.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, unknown date of publication (photo included)
SIOUX CITY MAN IS BEING HELD IN NAZI PRISON CAMP
Capt. F. D. Burdick, husband of a Sioux City woman, who was reported missing in action in north African fighting, has been take a prisoner and sent to an officers’ camp in Germany, according to word received by the war prisoner’s aid of the Y. M. C. A. from its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Capt. Burdick’s wife resides with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. A. Peterson, 901 20th street.
The message received here reported Capt. Burdick as “quite fit” and in “good spirits.” Capt. Burdick was a surgeon at Shenandoah, Ia., before entering the service in 1941 and had served at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, a year before going to Ireland in February, 1942. He was with the American forces which invaded Algeria last November and later served in Tunisia. He was an infantry battalion surgeon.
Prisoners are permitted to play cards and read what few books are available, Capt. Burdick revealed in a letter to his wife. They are escorted on a hike through the surrounding countryside once a week.
To keep the prisoners in good physical condition, a gymnastics period of 20 minutes is held every day. They receive one Red Cross parcel each week, he wrote.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, April 1, 1943
2 HELD BY NAZIS NOW REPORTED IN ITALIAN HANDS
The War Department announced officiating Wednesday that two Sioux Cityans, Capt. F. D. Burdick and Private Milfred M. Dahms, are interned in Italy as prisoners of war.
Capt. Burdick, whose wife resides at 901 20th street, was a member of the Army medical corps and has been stationed in Africa as a battle line surgeon. He was captured February 1, was interned first in Italy, was transferred to a German camp March 3 and now reportedly has been taken back to Italy.
Private Dahms, son of Mrs. Leona Dahms, 721 Market street, was serving with a commando unit in Africa at the time he was taken prisoner, January 18. He also apparently has been taken from an Italian camp to a German one and then transferred back to Italy. In February he broadcast by short wave from a German concentration center and Mrs. Dahms said the last word she had received from her son was a form postcard indicating he was in Germany.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, May 20, 1943
Capt. F.D. Burdick, German Prisoner, Is Well, Wife Learns
Capt. F. D. Burdick, formerly of Shenandoah, Iowa, husband of Mrs. Betty Burdick of Sioux City, who is a prisoner of Germany, is in “Good shape” his wife has learned from a repatriated Australian officer, Lieut. Dick Mann of New South Wales. Capt. Burdick was one of a group of Americans and Australians who became friends in the prison camp, the Australian officer said.
Capt. Burdick, a doctor, who went overseas with a national guard until in January, 1942, was taken prisoner in Tunisia in February, 1943.
His wife, who is employed in the signal corps office in the Wincharger Corporation, is making her home with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. A.A. Peterson, 715 33d Street. Capt. And Mrs. Burdick have a son, Bruce, 4.
Mrs. Burdick said she hears from her husband about once a month. Although he writes once a week, the letters usually come in a bunch, she said.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, December 18, 1943
