Daily Bulletin | Dec. 18, 1941 Kin Of 134th Make Boys Happy On Troop Train
T here was hope, then disappointment, then genuine pleasure all in the space of a few hours yesterday in the hearts of hundreds of mothers, friends and sweethearts of the men of Nebraska’s 134th Infantry. It all came about as a result of the “grapevine.” Early yesterday morning the story got around that a troop train, taking soldiers of the 134th from Camp Robinson to an unknown destination, would pass thru North Platte about 11 o’clock. A small group gathered at the Union Pacific station and waited. Shortly after noon, a train pulled in, but it wasn’t that of the 134th Infantry. Word passed that the boys would surely arrive at 3 p.m. A larger crowd had gath- ered at this time, only to hear that a troop train would not arrive in North Platte until 4:30. By this time, the grapevine had run its course, and no less than 500 rela- tives and friends of local men in the service huddled together at the depot. Baskets of fruit, cartons of cigarettes, Christmas gifts and fruit cakes were on hand everywhere. At last the train arrived. A whoop of joy arose from the throng, as open windows in the train revealed soldiers. Only they weren’t members of the 134th. But the sight of the smiling lads, their friendly spirits and their joy at seeing such a reception was too much for the crowd. They gathered around the boys, burdened them down with the gifts they had bought for their own sons and wished them well. As the train left, the boys waved gaily goodbye, thumbs were sticking up out of open windows and mothers were dabbing their eyes with hand- kerchiefs. Some weren’t bothering about the hankies, just crying and not caring who saw them.
The above Daily Bulletin story “jumped” to Page 3, where it was followed by Rae Wilson’s famous “letter to the editor” (see next page). The North Platte Telegraph
Dec. 17, the day that train arrived, had been Rae’s first day out of bed after her latest illness, Telegraph reporter Margaret Brown would write on March 30, 1946. Denver Wilson, who would leave the Army as a full colonel, commanded Company D under Miltonberger. When the crowd saw all the strange faces, Brown wrote, Rae talked to the troop train’s commanding officer and found out that the soldiers were from Company D — but of a Kansas outfit, not their own 134th. A year before her 1986 death, Rae expanded on her thoughts with Telegraph reporter Rose Mary Buhrman: Telegraph | June 2, 1985 They gave their gifts to the strangers anyway, and Rae Wilson [Sleight] went home with an idea in the back of her mind. “On the way [home] I said to Mom, ‘What did you do during World War I?’ and she said they all folded bandages. So I said, why not have food for the soldiers?” Mrs. Sleight said …
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