[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 73 (Wednesday, April 28, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E462]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    IN MEMORY OF MARY SOMERS BALLARD

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ANDY BARR

                              of kentucky

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 28, 2021

  Mr. BARR. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the life of Mrs. Mary 
Somers Ballard. Mrs. Ballard was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts on July 
22nd, 1919. She passed away on April 14, 2021.
  Mrs. Ballard was a descendant of two of the co-founders of Rhode 
Island. She was a proud New Englander who trained in nursing at Mercy 
Hospital in Springfield, Massachusetts. She enrolled at Boston 
University and worked at Massachusetts General Hospital. At the age of 
23, she entered the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, 811th Air Evacuation 
Squadron. When asked why she joined the military, she said ``We were at 
war. I joined the Army Air Corps because I thought I could make a 
contribution.'' First Lieutenant Somers served two years in England. 
Following D-Day, she cared for the wounded soldiers in hospital flights 
from France and Germany to England. Mrs. Somers was stationed with U.S. 
troops behind enemy lines during the Battle of the Bulge and entered 
Paris the day after its liberation. After the war, she remained in the 
reserves until she married.
  First Lt. Somers met her physician husband, Captain Joseph Aloysius 
Ballard, while serving at the Chanute Field Army Hospital in Illinois. 
They married on April 2, 1948. Dr. and Mrs. Ballard made their home in 
Lexington, Kentucky, where they raised eight children and were active 
members of Christ the King Church. Mrs. Ballard had 17 grandchildren 
and 11 great-grandchildren, with 2 more expected in July. In 2015, at 
the age of 95, Mrs. Ballard threw out the first pitch at the Lexington 
Legends Military Appreciation Night to highlight Kentucky's women 
veterans.
  It is my honor to recognize this amazing patriot, celebrate her life, 
and appreciate her for her service and sacrifice to our nation during 
World War II. As a part of ``The Greatest Generation'', Mrs. Ballard 
was an important part of the war effort to preserve the freedoms that 
we enjoy today. I am forever grateful for Americans like Mary Somers 
Ballard.

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