One of the beautiful stories that comes out of World War II is the story of the North Platte Canteen of North Platte Nebraska. One day in late 1941 the North Platte Bulletin received a letter from a 26 year old woman, Rae Wilson. She spoke of how the mothers of the boys in World War I set up canteens along the railways for the troops as they traveled across country. On December 22, 1941 the businessmen and civic leaders of North Platte, Nebraska met and said "why can't we do the same?" A committee was selected and on December 25, 1941 the North Platte Canteen was opened.
For the remainder of the war people from 125 communities in the North Platte area sacrificed their time and talents to provide snacks, magazines, small gifts and entertainment to the troops as they crossed the country by train on their way to camp or service. On some days as many as 5000-8000 soldiers were treated with love and hospitality at the North Platte Canteen.
Soldiers heard about the canteen through the grapevine and every train load looked forward to that stop. If there was no time to get off the train the townspeople would board the train and pass out the gifts. If it were a birthday the soldier would get a cake baked by one of the ladies. The people of North Platte and the surrounding area became mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters to the soldiers on their way to war.
The people of North Platte met every train from December 25, 1941 through April of 1946 with cookies, coffee, snacks, magazines but most of all love. In those years they served more than 6 million soldiers. It was a whistle stop that every American soldier would never forget.
To truly care for someone means more that just saying thanks or using mere words to express our feelings. To truly care means to take action. The world is full of "gonna doers". It is full of people who have good intentions. But the true people who care are the ones who say "why can't I do that" and then go out and do it.
For more info on the North Platte Canteen check out the website:
http://npcanteen.net
For the remainder of the war people from 125 communities in the North Platte area sacrificed their time and talents to provide snacks, magazines, small gifts and entertainment to the troops as they crossed the country by train on their way to camp or service. On some days as many as 5000-8000 soldiers were treated with love and hospitality at the North Platte Canteen.
Soldiers heard about the canteen through the grapevine and every train load looked forward to that stop. If there was no time to get off the train the townspeople would board the train and pass out the gifts. If it were a birthday the soldier would get a cake baked by one of the ladies. The people of North Platte and the surrounding area became mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters to the soldiers on their way to war.
The people of North Platte met every train from December 25, 1941 through April of 1946 with cookies, coffee, snacks, magazines but most of all love. In those years they served more than 6 million soldiers. It was a whistle stop that every American soldier would never forget.
To truly care for someone means more that just saying thanks or using mere words to express our feelings. To truly care means to take action. The world is full of "gonna doers". It is full of people who have good intentions. But the true people who care are the ones who say "why can't I do that" and then go out and do it.
For more info on the North Platte Canteen check out the website:
http://npcanteen.net
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