Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.
“The bus would take us to Fort Omaha, and we danced with the boys, they'd just bring them in. ... It was strange, the war was going on, but we didn't even think about the fact that most of these boys, some of these boys, were going to go off and die in the war. So it was a sad time, but it was a fun time.”
— Jeanne C. Houston of La Vista, who spent a year as a USO Junior Hostess in Omaha
"At War, At Home"
This article contains excerpts from “At War, At Home: World War II,” The World-Herald's special look back at the Nebraskans and Iowans who helped the nation win a war.
The 350-page book, filled with gripping stories and compelling photographs from 70 years of coverage, recounts the sacrifice and commitment of a remarkable generation of Americans. The book, which costs $29.95, can be ordered online here for delivery by Christmas.
Click here for our Behind the Headline video detailing how the book was made.
Coming up
Dec. 13: The military moves in
Dec. 14: A blow to southwest Iowa
Dec. 15: The war in the sky
Dec. 16: The great invasion
Dec. 17: Lawrence Youngman in Europe
Dec. 18: The horror of the Holocaust
Dec. 19: Brutal island warfare
Dec. 20: Bill Billotte in the Pacific
Dec. 21: The end comes at last
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The making of "At War At Home
The face of a homesick soldier was sure to brighten when the troop train pulled into a Nebraska station. Volunteers came out in force to make Americans in uniform feel appreciated during World War II.
United Service Organizations centers were set up across the Omaha area, including Union Station, north Omaha, South Omaha and Bellevue, to boost morale.
And another network of 21 community groups took turns staffing the railroad station's Service Men's Center and greeting, feeding and entertaining the troops.
Volunteer efforts sometimes reached massive proportions. During the summer of 1942, as many as 115 women came to the Union Pacific headquarters building to fulfill a daily quota of 2,000 rolled bandages for the Red Cross.
Similar contributions were made in other cities across Nebraska, but nowhere was the spirit of support stronger than in North Platte.
Just 10 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, residents heard that hometown boys in the Nebraska National Guard would pass through the city en route to the West Coast.
About 500 North Platte residents rushed with cookies, candy, cake and cigarettes to the Union Pacific Railroad station, only to learn that the unit on board was from Kansas.
Rae Wilson of North Platte wasn't willing to let a good idea go to waste, however, and she spearheaded an effort to run a canteen that would greet all troop trains beginning on Christmas Day 1941.
The residents of North Platte and about 125 other Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas communities banded together to share rationed food and fuel to serve endless platters of sandwiches, cakes, cookies, beverages, cigarettes and magazines.
After the war, canteen volunteers could brag that they never ran out of food.
Doris Dotson, who started working at the canteen when she was 10, kept records on the activities at the train station. One daily shopping list read:
» 160 to 175 loaves of bread.
» 100 pounds of meat.
» 15 pounds of cheese.
» 2 quarts of peanut butter and other spreads.
» 18 pounds of butter.
» 45 pounds of coffee.
» 40 quarts of cream.
» 500 half-pint bottles of milk.
» 35 dozen rolls.
» 18 to 20 birthday cakes.
Vincent Anderson, who served with the Marines in the South Pacific, recalled his first stop in North Platte.
"We were in the sleeper car, and the military police on the train told me that we're going to be stopping at North Platte, the best stop you'll make in crossing the United States," said Anderson, of Palm Desert, Calif. "I asked what they meant. They said, 'Wait until you see.' "
He was greeted by a woman with a big birthday cake.
"It was close to my birthday, so she said, 'We'll make it your birthday in North Platte.' I didn't know what to do with it. I got coffee and divided it with the guys with me."
A few months later, when Anderson returned to the West Coast, he knew what to expect. "I made sure I was good and hungry by the time I got to North Platte," he said.
Anderson squeezed into the crowded canteen and headed for the far end of a table. "I got four or five stuffed eggs."
The canteen volunteers were on the platform waving when the train pulled away a few minutes later.
"They made us feel like heroes," Anderson said.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1082, dan.sullivan@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
