Telegraph | June 8, 1942 By Verne Taylor Absent soldiers have “Mothers.”
Daily Bulletin | June 4, 1942 A letter addressed to the Postmaster of North Platte was delivered to the Canteen yesterday afternoon. … Dear Sir — The writer’s only son, a graduate from the air- corps, en route to California, wrote me a letter the other day, which I am going to write you verbatim: “Dad, I shall never forget as long as I live a little town called North Platte, Nebr. We had a 10-minute stop over there, and a good- looking girl came up to some of we fellows, while we were talking outside that car we were riding, and asked us to come up to the station. We went up, and the folks there had candy, pop, sandwiches, post cards and almost everything you could think of, including cakes, etc., and they gave them to us. About half of us almost missed the train. THAT WAS SUCH A NICE TOWN.” … E.T. Milet, 1803 Jefferson Avenue Covington, Ky. Employees of individual North Platte businesses now were serving alongside church groups and service clubs. Telegraph | June 8, 1942 Sunday, 16 girls from the [W.J.] O’Connor 10- cent store moved in on the Canteen with five cases of pop, 260 sandwiches, two sheet cakes, 3 cartons
of cigarettes and three quarts of cream and pro- ceeded to have themselves a big day not only in feeding the boys who visited the Canteen but [in] furnishing the necessary “pulchritude” to bolster the morale of the men during the day. Most Canteen stories offered anecdotes and vol- unteer and donor lists. “On the scene” stories like the next one would become more commonplace in time. (The author’s wife, the former Sarah Kelly, was secretary of the World War I Canteen.)
Each day, day after day, you see in your paper the names of ladies from the many organizations who relinquish their household duties for the day and devote that time administering to the needs of the hundreds of men in the various branches of service that pass through our city each day. These ladies deserve all the credit one can give them [and] also those from the towns adjoining, [who] many times during each month drive many miles not only to work but to replenish the supply store of the Canteen with all the necessary things to keep it in operation. If you were a frequent visitor to the Canteen, then you would notice many familiar faces each time you were there. This canteen in North Platte does not “just run.” There is a well developed sys- tem back of its success. Responsible for that success, you will find many ladies whose names you do not see in the press, but who are on duty as many as three and four full days each week, whose only thought of publicity or reward is that of a job well done. … The administrative work is shared by these ladies: Miss Rae Wilson, Miss Edwina Barraclough and Mesdames Adam [Helen] Christ, Ted [Edna] Neid, Bruce [Mae] Eshom, Russell [Mayme] Wyman, George [Emma] Atchey, H.F. [Elaine] Wright, Albert [Lottie] Beerbower, M.H. [Maude]
Canteen workers, 1942. From left: Ella Batie, Rose Loncar, Mrs. Seaburg (first name unknown), Daisy Belzer, Florence Duke.
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