Dorothy J. Burdge was a schoolteacher before going overseas as an American Red Cross worker. She was sent overseas by the ARC in Sept. 1943, and served in England then followed the American troops to Normandy, through France and Belgium and finally Germany. She operated a Red Cross Clubmobile with her sister Grace. She was killed in a plane crash in Germany, on May 1, 1945, just a few days before the Armistice. She was 29 years old.
Overseas, American Red Cross workers served as field directors providing compassionate support for the troops they accompanied by operating clubs and clubmobiles for the armed forces; and were attached to military hospitals, hospital ships, and hospital trains. At the peak of Red Cross wartime activity in 1945, 7.5 million volunteers along with 39,000 paid staff served their nation. Throughout the war years, the Red Cross served 16 million military personnel, including one million combat casualties. By the time World War II ended in September 1945, the American public had contributed over $784 million in support to the American Red Cross. Nearly every family in American contained a member who had either served as a Red Cross volunteer, made contributions of money or blood, or was a recipient of Red Cross services.

She now rests at Netherlands American Cemetery alongside thousands of other men and women who served during World War II.