heart of Texas.” Several of the letters are from for- mer residents of North Platte, all of them express- ing their thanks to the “home folks” for the fine work they are doing. Typical of the letters received was one that reads as follows: “Dear Miss Wilson: “I read about you and the wonderful work you are doing in ‘This Week’ October 25. All praise be to you and the others at North Platte. Could you use the enclosed check? I would love to do my bit. “Wishing you every success in life and to all the others, God bless you. Cordially, “Antoinette K. Brown, “Hotel Pierce. N.Y.” The enclosed check in the above letter was for $200. … Since Wednesday the letters received at the Wilson home have contained cash and checks amounting to $294. The following article revealed an increasingly common experience for North Platte-area service members overseas. Telegraph | Nov. 6, 1942 Mr. and Mrs. Ed Koch, Arnold, recently received a letter from their son, Wayne, who is in the United States navy, a copy of which was sent to the Canteen here. The letter said in part: “I had already sealed this letter but while I was upstairs I happened to be showing your clipping
about the Canteen to some of the boys around me. One little fellow that sleeps under me read it and great tears ran down his cheeks. He called his pal and said, ‘John, read this.’ “After they had read it, they said they had come out here from the Great Lakes train- ing station and stopped there [at the Canteen] for a few minutes. You should have seen that little fellow (only seventeen) as he told me, ‘I can’t write very good letters so if you will tell your mother that [she] was more like my own mother than anything I have ever known, I will really appreciate it.’ He also said, ‘If you would, thank each and every lady for him and all the other boys.’ “I posted the clipping on the board, and right now there are three boys talking about it. If every mother could know exactly [what] such treatment as that means to these home-sick boys out in these large training camps — where every sailor is just another sailor, and every sol- dier is just another soldier, they would be fully repaid for every effort. … “Guess I have rattled on long enough, but I did so want you to know exactly how much the sailor boys appreciate treatment such as they receive ONLY in North Platte.” Turkey would be served at the Canteen on its first Thanksgiving Day — and much more — thanks to the St. Patrick Catholic Church pastor for whom North Platte’s Catholic elementary school is named.
Canteen volunteers serve scrap-metal collectors indirectly helping their cause during the third of Lincoln County's four wartime scrap drives in this photo from May 19, 1943.
The $50 check is from Claude Stenstoff, Salem, Ore., and highly compliments the program and expresses best wishes for the continuance [of the Canteen] during the duration. Even though Rae Wilson herself was now in far-off California, the “This Week” article didn’t say so. So George and Blanche Wilson fielded the letters — and donations — headed her way. Telegraph | Oct. 31, 1942 Every mail delivery brings additional letters to the home of Mr. and Mrs. George Wilson, 120 East 8th street, father and mother of Miss Rae Wilson, whose picture appeared in an article in last week’s edition of “This Week.” … They are from the extreme eastern part of the United States, all over the west coast, from Mississippi, from South Dakota and “deep in the
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