Once Upon a Town cover art

Once Upon a Town

The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

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Once Upon a Town

By: Bob Greene
Narrated by: Fritz Weaver
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About this listen

 During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains, en route to Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen, a place where soldiers could enjoy coffee, music, home-cooked food, magazines, and friendly conversation during a stopover that lasted only a few minutes. It provided homesick military personnel with the encouragement they needed to help them through the difficult times ahead. Every day of the war, the Canteen, staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers from the community of 12,000, was open from 5 a.m. until the last troop train of the day pulled away after midnight. By war's end it provided welcoming words, friendship, and baskets of food to more than six million GIs.

Based on interviews with North Platte residents and the GIs who once passed through, Bob Greene unearths and reveals a classic, lost-in-the-mists-of-time American story of a grateful country honoring its brave and dedicated sons.

©2002 John Deadline Enterprises, Inc. (P)2002 HarperCollins Publishers Military State & Local United States Transportation War Solider

Critic Reviews

"Greene's skill makes this homage not just a time capsule but a work that will strike a resonating chord in those seeking to remember the generosity and selflessness of many when faced with adversity and peril." (Publisher's Weekly)

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