H. Con. Res. 161
Agreed to September 27, 2004
One Hundred Eighth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
the twentieth day of January, two thousand and four
Concurrent Resolution
Whereas at the beginning of World War II residents of North
Platte, Nebraska, received information that members of the
Nebraska National Guard from the North Platte area would
be traveling through the community of North Platte on a troop
train en route to the west coast;
Whereas residents of the North Platte community met the troop
train on December 17, 1941, with food and other gifts for the
troops when they arrived at the Union Pacific train station;
Whereas although the troop train carried young men from Kansas
instead of members of the Nebraska National Guard, the resi-
dents of North Platte presented the young men from Kansas
with the food and other items that were donated;
Whereas Rae Wilson, of North Platte, proposed establishing the
North Platte Canteen to the North Platte community so residents
would greet every troop train that traveled through North Platte
and provide the military troops with comforts from home on
their way to serve their country during World War II;
Whereas on December 25, 1941, the North Platte Canteen began
serving food and other items to the United States military troops
traveling across the United States to either the east or west
coast before being shipped overseas;
Whereas during World War II, the North Platte Canteen routinely
greeted and served food to between 3,000 and 5,000, and up
to a maximum of 8,000, uniformed personnel on a daily basis
for an approximate total of 6,000,000 personnel from every corner
of the Nation;
Whereas individuals from 125 communities in Nebraska, Colorado,
and Kansas donated food and volunteered at the North Platte
Canteen over its period of operation of approximately 5 years;
Whereas the North Platte Canteen operated strictly with volunteers
from local communities, organizations, churches, schools, and
other groups and received no Federal assistance for its operation;
Whereas the North Platte Canteen received $137,000 in cash con-
tributions from benefit dances, scrap-metal drives, school victory
clubs, donation cans in local businesses, and relatives of
servicemembers who traveled through the Canteen to help main-
tain the Canteen’s operations over its period of operation;
Whereas the North Platte Canteen during one month alone served
over 40,000 homemade cookies, 30,000 hard-boiled eggs, nearly
7,000 cup, loaf, and birthday cakes, and over 2,800 pounds of
sandwich meat to serve to uniformed personnel;
H. Con. Res. 161—2
Whereas a typical daily shopping list might include 175 loaves
of bread, 100 pounds of meat, 15 pounds of cheese, 2 quarts
of peanut butter, 45 pounds of coffee, 40 quarts of cream, and
500 half-pint bottles of milk;
Whereas the greatest contribution of the North Platte Canteen
to the war effort was as a morale booster and a reminder to
servicemembers of the American values and ideals for which
they were fighting; and
Whereas the North Platte Canteen was honored and recognized
by the United States military with the War Department’s Meri-
torious Wartime Service Award: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concur-
ring), That the Congress—
(1) recognizes the outstanding efforts of the individuals
and communities involved with the North Platte Canteen that
served the needs of 6,000,000 military personnel, who traveled
through North Platte, Nebraska, on troop trains from December
25, 1941, to April 1, 1946, during World War II; and
(2) requests that the President issue a proclamation recog-
nizing the gallant efforts of those who made enormous sacrifices
to make the North Platte Canteen a success during World
War II.
Attest:
Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Attest:
Secretary of the Senate.