service men are not able to see the magazine tables and are unable to take advantage of the reading material they so badly desire. When you visit the Canteen, you are urged to cooperate with those serving and help make the short stop the men make here one long to be remembered. In late 2018, the writer of the Canteen letter quoted below, Robert Furrow, was 98 years old and still living relatively independently in a retire- ment complex in Curtis, six miles east of his native Maywood. Furrow related his World War II experiences, including how he awaited orders to deploy on D-Day that never came, to the present writer for a Telegraph article in November 2018. His future wife and mother-in-law, Eileen and Fern Farrar, were among the Canteen’s regular Maywood workers, he said. Daily Bulletin | April 13, 1944 The Canteen received the following V-mail letter from First Sergeant Robert Furrow, whose home is in Maywood. Furrow is stationed somewhere in England with the Army engineers. The letter read as follows: “Dear Nebraskans: I was talking to a group of men that recently arrived over here in England from the United States. In our conversation, the subject of the different states we came from was discussed. When I told the men I was from Nebraska, they remarked about the friendly
greetings, refreshments and magazines that were given to them by members of the Canteen while passing through North Platte on a troop train. “I thought you would be interested to know that your efforts are greatly appreciated and that you certainly put a warm feeling in the hearts of the men in the service for North Platte. “The men said that they traveled from the west coast to the east coast and North Platte was the only city that treated them to refreshments and gave them reading material to help pass the time away while traveling on their weary journey. “My home is in Maywood and I have visited your Canteen several times, so I know what a swell job you are doing. “Keep up the good work, and let’s hope this war will soon be over.” “Prowler,” Daily Bulletin | April 25, 1944 The North Platte Canteen looked and sounded like Grand Central station for a few minutes yesterday afternoon when the conductor, getting little action from yelling “All aboard,” saw that Mrs. C.H. [Mary Ellen] Land, Canteen chair- man for the day, was really getting results with the public address system. The conductor decided to give the machine a whirl. Shouting “All aboard, westbound train leaving for Cheyenne, Ogden …,” he sent one of the largest crowds of servicemen and women ever served at the Canteen scurrying toward the door.
decorated with colored Easter eggs, and the cakes were decorated in Easter style. It is impossible to acknowledge all the gifts of Easter eggs that were brought to the Canteen, but the ladies in charge wish to say thanks to everyone. With the coming of warmer weather, the Canteen is going to be faced with a problem of visitors, especially on Sundays. … Yesterday on several of the trains, men were un- able to get inside the door and did not receive the welcome they had expected for hours when they arrived in North Platte. … Visitors are welcome at all times, but they should remember that on many of the trains as many as 500 men try to crowd into the serving room for lunch and drink in a short ten-minute period and there is not room for 500 men in that serving room. With visitors in the back of the room, the Fresh milk was all but unknown to the U.S. armed forces during World War II, so the Canteen’s regular supply was eagerly welcomed by thousands of service members like this Army Air Forces man, left, and female Marine Corps member.
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