The onward march of time has brought forth generations to whom World War II is but a chapter in a history textbook. Yet an ex-serviceman writes, almost 40 years after the fact: “In the hearts of millions of men there hangs a medal unlike any ever hung on the chest. It’s big, it’s bright, it’s real, it’s forever. It says, ‘I love you, North Platte. You’re what’s great in America.’” Time itself will one day wipe away all personal recollection of the North Platte Canteen. But not for now. For now, as long as the memory remains with just one man, with just one woman, then the spirit of the Canteen lives on — whispering as gently, and as eternally in the heart, as the breeze that whispers eternal on the Midwestern prairie. “It made an impression that has lasted a lifetime. It touched my heart and never went away.”
Rae Wilson Sleight died in a North Platte nursing home on Aug. 5, 1986, and was buried in the North Platte Cemetery. Two days later, Keith Blackledge sandwiched a farewell around a reprint of Buhrman’s story.
INSPIRATION OF RAE SLEIGHT RARE, INDEED
There are few outside of North Platte who would recognize the name Rae Wilson Sleight. There are thousands who were the beneficiaries of an idea that she saw fit to follow through on. … It has been 40 years since the Canteen was in operation. And still the letters come to North Platte from servicemen who remember the town’s generosity. The reality of that seemingly impossible and idealistic concept that one woman was daring enough to propose and the commitment that hundreds of other Canteen workers were willing to make was — and still remains — something rare, indeed.
Telegraph | Sept. 2, 1986 By Mary Bargman
Pictures on the wall of the Lincoln County Historical Museum tell part of the story of the North Platte Canteen. But the personal accounts shared by visitors during the Canteen’s 40th anniversary reunion Sunday and Monday painted the truest picture of the World War II undertaking. “Here’s my mother, my sister and my other sister,” one woman said, pointing to a photograph displayed in the museum’s exhibit. “I remember the many hours they spent working at the Canteen.” The reunion brought about 400 visitors to the museum on Sunday, said Gerry Young, president of the Lincoln County Historical Society. Another 125 stopped by Monday. … “We received two very interesting letters this summer,” [Young] said. One former volunteer wrote to admit that she signed her name to a magazine she donated to the Canteen. The signature resulted in [a] 41-year marriage to the recipient.
Telegraph Editorial | Aug. 7, 1986
142 CANTEEN: AS IT HAPPENED
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