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

Bob Greeneは日本人にも人気のあるコラムニストであり、その内容にもその言葉遣いにも私は魅了され続けてきた。ただしこの作品はあまりお薦めできない。 第二次世界大戦中にアメリカ人兵士を乗せた列車があるNorth Platteという駅で止まると、女性を中心にしたボランティアが、自分たちの食事を我慢してまで、戦争に向かう兵士に食事を与えたことがあった。その事実を、兵士やボランティアの女性へのインタビューをふんだんに取り入れながら描いた本である。 そのような駅があったことは驚きである。またその駅がその後たどる跡を読めば時代の変化の様々な面が見えてくる。このあたりの様子をGreeneは彼の標準的な力で書いている。しかし、それ以上の感動や余韻が伝わってこないのだ。インタビュー内容を料理するGreeneの腕前に酔いしれるという瞬間があまりに少ないのだ。 Greeneのファンであればすべて読むのは苦労はしない。ただし彼の作品をあまり読んだことのない人は途中で読むのをやめるかもしれない。Greeneにしては中途半端な本であると言わざるを得ない。次回作を期待しよう。

This book is written about one of the largely untold stories of WWII that is truly incredible - the North Platte Canteen. During WWII, the town of North Platte, NE set up a Canteen to meet the trains with soldiers on them and gave food and comfort to over 6 MILLION troops, all done by volunteers during the time of heavy rationing of items such as sugar, eggs, and gasoline. Mr. Green writes it like he is telling a story, so at times it is a little informal or folksy, but the story is riveting. I live in North Platte and our local newspaper got letters for decades from soldiers who had passed through on a train, normally for 10 -15 minute stops, and were writing years later to tell the community how much North Platte meant to them. A great book about an extraordinary event with people working together to serve their fellow man and the greater good.

I heard about this town several years ago, I forget where. Then I heard about this book and decided I needed to read it. so I ordered it and read it. I did not rush through the book, but took my time reading to enjoy it. Here it is. On one hot midwestern July day, Journalist and Author, Bob Greene, rented a car and drove across Nebraska to find this little out of the way town. He checked into a motel, had meals at restaurants, walked around the town to get the feel of North Platte. His main reason was to meet and interview people who were volunteers at the canteen during World War II. Several thousand people volunteered, six million troops passed through. All were made welcome, made to feel special. These were young men, mostly in their late teens, now in their seventies and eighties. A few were young ladies. Mr. Greene wanted to talk to the town volunteers during that period., So many are now gone. Volunteers are in their sixties, seventies, eighties. The young men, going to war were for the most part, in their late teens. Many had never been so far from home. Mr. Greene went to different parts of the country to talk to these old men. Many had tears in their eyes when they talked of the goodness of these midwesterners, how these people made them feel at home. Many of the young men said that the ladies and girls reminded them of their mothers, sisters, cousins. Too many of these young military men would never go home again. North Platte, at one time, was the hub of passenger trains in that part of western Nebraska. During the Second World War, troop trains went through. Now there is only a railroad yard, biggest in the world, freight trains only. The station which contained the canteen has been torn down. Only a memory. All this began when a troop train filled with military, supposedly Nebraska troops, stopped at North Platte. However, these were Kansas troops. The canteen was filled with tables full of food. Then the canteen began to honor troops from all over the United States. Citizens from neighboring towns were recruited to help, churches volunteered their parishoners. So much was rationed, gas, food, so much of everything. Cars would drive to North Platte from as much as one hundred miles, filled with produce, sandwiches, baked goods in spite of rationing. One lady, making angel food cake, eggs were somewhat scarce, found an outlet, turkey eggs, larger, made more. When the troops arrived, they were met with baskets of sandwiches, fruit, candy, magazines were provided. Chicken, baked goods, cookies, cupcakes of all kinds, hot coffee, cold milk, soda were provided. There was a piano where whoever could play played dance music, inviting those who liked to dance could. Young girls made popcorn balls, young girls names and addresses were placed in the balls in case any of the young men wanted pen pals. Mr. Greene interviewed two sisters, now widows, who wrote to young soldiers. The young men had never met the sisters, but went to North Platte to meet who they were writing to. Marriage. The young troops told their buddies about the wonderful people. All looked forward to coming to North Platte and looked forward to returning. Counters and tables filled with food for the short time, ten, fifteen, twenty minutes these lonesome young boys were in town. Mothers and daughters came together. Mothers brought younger children. All were put to work. One young girl, now a much older woman watched the news about fighting overseas and worried about all the young men she had met. A wonderful time, but in a way very sad. This book was chosen by One Book, One Nebraska as the book of 2014.

The American spirit is still alive and well as demonstrated by the outpouring of love, support and donations that followed in the aftermath of September 11th. We have always been there for each other in times of need and I suspect we always will. However, for the people of North Platte Nebraska, that spirit was a little more determined than most. They truly performed a miracle. I first found out about the North Platte Canteen while reading a history of the Union Pacific RR passenger service. It intrigued me enough so that on our next car trip west, I insisted that we stop in North Platte and find the old station that had served as the canteen. Like Bob Greene, I was deeply troubled when I found that there was nothing left to show for it but a few red paving bricks along side of the tracks. After questioning a few people, I discovered that a small mock up of the canteen could be seen at the Lincoln Country Historical Society Museum on the west side of town. Not only can you see pictures and read stories about the canteen, but you might be lucky enough to find someone to talk to who had personal experiences with the canteen. The morning we visited, I spoke with a woman whose mother had been active in the canteen. She shared with me one of the methods by which they knew a troup train was coming through. Out in the countryside, the engineer of the train would display a colored ribbon flying from the cab. The person watching for the train would then start the phone tree alerting the volunteers of the day "to put the coffee on." The wonderful work done in that Nebraska town now has been memorialized for the coming generations thanks to the amazing story told in the book. It should be an inspiration to all of us for the future, which these days seems somewhat clouded. My hat is off to Bob Greene and his painstakingly accurate research, the devoted mothers and daughters who served and cooked food, the reliable husbands and fathers who frequently acted as drivers, and to the remarkable service men and women who sent along their notes of thanks to North Platte while they were also occupied with fighting a war. North Platte is still a special place. The spirit of our country is alive and well there in the quiet town along the UP tracks where a century and a half ago another generation of equally determined Americans made their way west on the Oregon Trail. For those of you interested in even more information on the North Platte Canteen, there is a wonderful website...

You can read the synopsis in the product listing. I've bought multiple copies of this book and encouraged people to pass it along after reading. I feel that it largely represents the America so many people long for, but are afraid to attempt. People sacrificing and volunteering to help strangers for the greater good. Maybe you think that sounds like communism, but it's the exact opposite. No government money was used and no political fat-cat directed it. It came straight from people in the community wanting to make a difference. I've read it many times.