[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Pages 9697-9698]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       COMMENDING THE WOMEN OF THE AMERICAN RED CROSS CLUBMOBILES

  Mr. REID. I now ask unanimous consent that the Judiciary Committee be 
discharged from further consideration of and the Senate proceed to S. 
Res. 471.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 471) commending the efforts of the 
     women of the American Red Cross Clubmobiles for exemplary 
     service during the Second World War.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize the service of 
the women of the American Red Cross Clubmobiles. These brave young 
Americans served our country with distinction overseas during the 
Second World War.
  During the War, the Red Cross was charged by the Armed Forces to 
provide for the recreational welfare of the troops. Wherever there was 
a sizable group of American servicemen permanently assigned, the Red 
Cross established canteens, which provided a bit of respite from 
training for war and were tremendously popular. But the canteens were 
fixed sites, and did not reach many of the combat troops garrisoned at 
small locations across the English countryside.
  In order to extend a taste of home to the troops, the Red Cross 
Commissioner for Great Britain, Harvey Gibson, thought up the idea of 
the ``Clubmobile,'' a mobile kitchen set up in an old London bus. In 
late 1942, several of these Clubmobiles began operating between dozens 
of bases around the country, serving coffee and doughnuts to those 
preparing for D-day.
  Shortly after the beachhead at Normandy was successfully secured, 80 
Clubmobiles and 320 volunteers crossed the English Channel to begin 
operating their mobile kitchens near the front lines. Each Clubmobile 
group, consisting of eight two-and-a-half ton trucks named for an 
American city or State, was attached to an Army Corps and moved with 
the unit's support elements, often going forward to provide the troops 
with American music, hot coffee, and doughnuts. Like every soldier, the 
Clubmobile women were in ``for the duration.'' By War's end, the 
Clubmobiles were operating across Europe, from southern Italy to 
northern Germany, and in the Far East from the jungles of Burma to the 
shores of Tokyo Bay.
  A visit from a Clubmobile was one of the most significant events for 
a young G.I. in combat far from home, and the women of the Clubmobiles, 
young women from every single State, acted as friends and sisters to 
the troops with whom they interacted.
  These women were trailblazers, every bit as much as the Navy's Women 
Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service--WAVES--the Women's Army 
Corps--WACS--and the Women Airforce Service Pilots--WASPS. They were 
young, independent, and patriotic. They joined for a variety of 
reasons, some for adventure, some to serve in uniform as close to 
combat as they were then allowed, and some to honor the sacrifices of 
their own fathers, brothers, or friends. Every one of them was 
dedicated to their country, and volunteered for the Clubmobiles rather 
than an easier or safer job at home.
  The dangers of War were real. During the War, 52 Red Cross women lost 
their lives, some of them from the Clubmobiles. Their stories are those 
of a nation at war.
  Elizabeth Richardson joined the Red Cross in 1944 after graduating 
from Milwaukee-Downer College and after a

[[Page 9698]]

brief career in advertising. She helped pilot the Clubmobile named 
Kansas City throughout England, Holland and France, listening to 
soldiers' stories while cracking jokes and sharing her own. Two months 
after V-E Day, Liz's plane crashed en route to Paris. Liz Richardson, 
dead at 27, now lies interred at the Normandy American Cemetery. Before 
she died, she said about her service, ``I wouldn't trade this for 
anything else.''
  Those sentiments are shared by Margaret ``Margo'' Hemingway 
Harrington of Rye, NH, one of the few surviving Clubmobile women. She 
said, ``I just got itchy feet, and thought I should be doing something 
more.''
  The women of the Clubmobiles touched the lives of hundreds of 
thousands of U.S. servicemen. The Red Cross alone purchased enough 
flour to make 1.5 million doughnuts, most of which were served through 
the windows of a Clubmobile.
  To honor their memory, 70 years after they were established, Senator 
Shaheen and I, joined by 11 of our colleagues, introduced Senate 
Resolution 471, which commends the exemplary and courageous service of 
the Clubmobiles, honors those that lost their lives, calls upon 
historians to not let this important piece of American history be lost, 
and urges the Red Cross to publically commemorate their stories.
  Honoring them now is critically important, because only a very few of 
these women remain. Their stories are every bit as vibrant and 
important to our victory as those of the men who valiantly fought to 
defend our freedom. I urge every one of my colleagues to support this 
Resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to; a 
Collins amendment to the preamble, which is at the desk, be agreed to; 
the preamble, as amended, be agreed to; and that the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 471) was agreed to.
  The amendment (No. 2466) was agreed to, as follows:

       In the preamble, strike the third whereas clause through 
     the sixth whereas clause and insert the following:
       Whereas thousands of young women, from every State in the 
     United States, volunteered to serve in the Clubmobiles, and 
     were chosen after a rigorous interview process;
       Whereas, between July and August 1944, less than 1 month 
     after the invasion of Normandy, France, 80 Clubmobiles and 
     320 American Red Cross volunteers crossed the English Channel 
     and began providing coffee, doughnuts, and a friendly smile 
     to servicemen fighting on the front lines;
       Whereas the Clubmobile volunteers saw service across Europe 
     in France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and Germany, and later 
     in the Far East, touching the lives of hundreds of thousands 
     of United States servicemen until victory was achieved;

  The preamble, as amended, was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 471

       Whereas, during the Second World War, the American Red 
     Cross was charged by the United States Armed Forces with 
     providing recreational services to the soldiers serving in 
     the war;
       Whereas Harvey Gibson, the Red Cross Commissioner to Great 
     Britain during the war, conceived of the Clubmobiles in 1942 
     as a means of providing hot coffee, fresh doughnuts, and a 
     vital connection to home to thousands of servicemen at dozens 
     of airfields, bases, and camps throughout Great Britain 
     during the buildup to D-Day;
       Whereas thousands of young women, from every State in the 
     United States, volunteered to serve in the Clubmobiles, and 
     were chosen after a rigorous interview process;
       Whereas, between July and August 1944, less than 1 month 
     after the invasion of Normandy, France, 80 Clubmobiles and 
     320 American Red Cross volunteers crossed the English Channel 
     and began providing coffee, doughnuts, and a friendly smile 
     to servicemen fighting on the front lines;
       Whereas the Clubmobile volunteers saw service across Europe 
     in France, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, and Germany, and later 
     in the Far East, touching the lives of hundreds of thousands 
     of United States servicemen until victory was achieved;
       Whereas a visit from a Clubmobile, which could serve 
     gallons of coffee and hundreds of doughnuts every minute, was 
     often the most significant morale boost available to 
     servicemen at war;
       Whereas 52 women of the American Red Cross, some of whom 
     served on the Clubmobiles, perished during the war as a 
     result of their service; and
       Whereas 70 years have passed since the Clubmobiles were 
     founded, and only a few women who served in the Clubmobiles 
     remain to share their stories: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends the exemplary and courageous service and 
     sacrifice of each of the patriotic women of the United States 
     who served in the American Red Cross Clubmobiles during the 
     Second World War;
       (2) honors the Clubmobile women who lost their lives during 
     the Second World War;
       (3) calls upon historians of the Second World War to 
     recognize and describe the service of the Clubmobiles, and to 
     not let this important piece of United States history be 
     lost; and
       (4) urges the American Red Cross to publicly commemorate 
     the stories of the Clubmobiles and the amazing women who 
     served in them.

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