[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Con. Res. 47 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. CON. RES. 47

Recognizing the outstanding efforts of the individuals and communities 
 who volunteered or donated items to the North Platte Canteen in North 
Platte, Nebraska, during World War II from December 25, 1941, to April 
                                1, 1946.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2003

   Mr. Hagel (for himself and Mr. Nelson of Nebraska) submitted the 
following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the outstanding efforts of the individuals and communities 
 who volunteered or donated items to the North Platte Canteen in North 
Platte, Nebraska, during World War II from December 25, 1941, to April 
                                1, 1946.

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 with food 
        and other gifts for the troops when the train arrived at the Union 
        Pacific train station on December 17, 1941;
Whereas, although the troop train carried young men from Kansas instead of 
        members of the Nebraska National Guard, the residents 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 to her community the idea of 
        establishing the North Platte Canteen so that residents could greet 
        every troop train that traveled through North Platte and provide the 
        military troops en route to serving their country in World War II with 
        comforts from home;
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 greeted and served food 
        to approximately 6,000,000 men and women from every State in the Union;
Whereas individuals from 125 communities in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas 
        donated food and volunteered at the North Platte Canteen during the 
        approximately 5-year period in which it operated;
Whereas the North Platte Canteen operated strictly with volunteers from local 
        communities, organizations, churches, schools, and other groups, and 
        without any Federal assistance;
Whereas the North Platte Canteen received $137,000 in cash contributions 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 maintain the Canteen's operations for about 
        5 years;
Whereas the North Platte Canteen served each month about 40,000 homemade 
        cookies, 30,000 hard-boiled eggs, 6,500 doughnuts, 4,000 loaves of 
        bread, 3,000 pounds of meat, 450 pounds of cheese, 60 quarts of peanut 
        butter, 1,350 pounds of coffee, 1,200 quarts of cream, 750 dozen rolls, 
        and 600 birthday cakes; and
Whereas the North Platte Canteen was honored by the United States Army with the 
        presentation of the Meritorious Wartime Service Award by the Secretary 
        of War: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), 
That Congress--
            (1) recognizes the outstanding efforts of the individuals 
        and communities involved with the North Platte Canteen to 
        dispense food and good cheer to the approximately 6,000,000 
        members of the United States Armed Forces who traveled on troop 
        trains through North Platte, Nebraska, from December 25, 1941, 
        through April 1, 1946, during World War II; and
            (2) requests the President to issue a proclamation 
        recognizing the heroic efforts of those patriotic Americans who 
        made enormous sacrifices to make the North Platte Canteen a 
        successful expression of the warmth and caring of home for 
        soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines of our Nation making 
        their way to war.

                                 <all>