sailor was heard to ask, “What are we boys gonna do now?” “We’ll never give up over there now! We’ll fight harder than ever,” another shot back, voicing the deepest feelings of all those who found it impossible to comprehend. The approaching San Francisco Conference, which would found the United Nations, was about to shine the national press spotlight even more brightly upon North Platte and the Canteen. Telegraph | April 19, 1945 Between 200 and 300 correspondents, report- ers, commentators and columnists will “invade” the North Platte Canteen for an inspection tour Saturday between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. The newspaper and radio men will be en route to San Francisco, Calif., to cover the San Francisco Conference on April 25. They will be aboard two special trains and, during the regular stop here, have been invited by the Union Pacific railroad and the Canteen to inspect the servicemen’s haven. … The regular workers of the Canteen have taken a collection among themselves to purchase dough- nuts and coffee to serve the “invaders.” This money was collected because the Canteen policy calls for the serving of armed forces personnel and their families only. No money or food will be taken from the cash funds or supplies donated for the Canteen.
(a publication he revised after the visit for visiting service members). When the first San Francisco- bound trains arrived, they bore President Harry S. Truman’s newly appointed press secretary; Walter Lippmann, one of America’s best-known politi- cal journalists; and the only international leader ever to step through the Canteen’s doors (since Philippine President Manuel Quezon, who died Aug. 1, 1944, never left his private car in 1942). Telegraph | April 24, 1945 It was a gay day for everyone and a heyday for autograph seekers at the North Platte Canteen Saturday where, in the short period of two hours, more persons of note visited there than have been in [there in] several years. The most distinguished guest of the day was Prime Minister of Canada Mackenzie King who, accompanied by his staff of bodyguards, rode in his private car on the rear of No. 27. The car was marked “Dominion of Canada,” and with King were the Canadian delegates and Australian del- egates to the San Francisco conference. The Prime Minister and his staff got off the train east of the depot and walked the two blocks to the Canteen. He immediately was besieged by auto- graph hounds but was led into the Canteen, where Joe di Natale asked him to say a few words over the KODY microphone. The Prime Minister began by thanking the ladies of the Canteen and the Union Pacific railroad for their hospitality and said that Canada is glad to be
Volunteers set food out for the soldiers.
tragedy which struck the nation and all the Allies at this desperate time. Many were too stunned to make any comment as all waited anxiously as report followed report. … The North Platte Telegraph force was called back, special Associated Press service was ordered and two special editions were published to afford North Platte readers an account of the tragedy. … A troop train was at the Union Pacific sta- tion when the first edition was published, and it was the servicemen’s first hint of the fatal event. Officers-of-the-day at the Canteen said it was “pitiful to see the faces of some of those boys, alighting from the train, entirely unaware that anything so momentous had occurred.” They stood around the Canteen with strained faces, and as the Canteen radio was turned on, sandwiches and coffee cups were put aside, forgot- ten, as the men crowded around to listen. One
William Jeffers published a booklet for the jour- nalists with facts and photos about the Canteen
94 CANTEEN: AS IT HAPPENED
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