Once upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

New York, New York, U.S.A.: HarperCollins - Perennial, 2003. First Printing . Trade Paperback. Very Good. 5" x 8. 263 Pages. First nine pages have a vertical crease. Beyond that is a tight bright book with no marks or stamps. Illustrtrated with eight pages of black and white photographs. Presents the best of America in the true-life story of an isolated prairie town that transformed its railroad depot into a comforting haven for American soldiers from every walk of life as they rolled through on troop trains, en route to Europe and the Pacific. The Nebraskan town of North Platte, now dotted with stripmalls and fast food restaurants, lies on the rail line where, sixty years ago, American soldiers preparing to head off to World War II would stop. The hospitality they received there was homegrown. The tiny town, wanting to offer the servicemen warmth and support, transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen. Every day of the year, every day of the war, the Canteen, staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers, was open from 5 a.m. until the last troop train of the day pulled away after midnight. Astonishingly, this remote plains community of only 12,000 people provided welcoming words, friendship and baskets of food and treats to more than 6 million GIs by the time the war ended. A poignant and heartwarming eyewitness history, based on interviews with North Platte residents and the soldiers who once passed their way. A classic lost-in-the mists-of-time American story of a grateful country honoring its brave and dedicated sons.