Once Upon a Town, Bob Greene
Once Upon a Town, Bob Greene
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Once Upon a Town
The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen

Author: Bob Greene

Narrator: Fritz Weaver

Unabridged: 5 hr 38 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Publisher: William Morrow

Published: 10/03/2006

Synopsis

During World War II, American soldiers from every city and walk of life rolled through North Platte, Nebraska on troop trains, en route to Europe and the Pacific. The tiny town transformed its modest railroad depot into the North Platte Canteen -- a place where soldiers could enjoy coffee, music, home-cooked food, magazines, and friendly conversation during a stopover that lasted only a few minutes. It provided homesick military personnel with the encouragement they needed to help them through the difficult times ahead. Every day of the war, the Canteen -- staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers from the community of twelve thousand -- was open from 5 a.m. until the last troop train of the day pulled away after midnight. By war's end they provided welcoming words, friendship, and baskets of food to more than six million GIs.Based on interviews with North Platte residents and the GIs who once passed through, Bob Greene unearths and reveals a classic, lost-in-the-mists-of-time American story of a grateful country honoring its brave and dedicated sons.

About Bob Greene

Award-winning journalist Bob Greene is the author of six New York Times bestsellers and a frequent contributor to the New York Times Op-Ed page.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Jason on December 10, 2008

"Once Upon a Town" is the true story of the North Platte Canteen. What is that? Well, on December 25, 1941, just 18 days after Pearl Harbor, the women of North Platte realized that many troop trains were stopping through their Nebraska town crossing over to the Pacific side of the U.S. They decided......more

Goodreads review by Reuel on April 19, 2024

From Dick Foth recommendation. Great book about what America used to be. Entertaining read but a bit repetitive at times. The structure of the book could use work.......more

Goodreads review by Virginia on March 14, 2024

I was born and raised in a small, rural town in Iowa (close to the Nebraska border) so I am attracted to books that open my eyes to what life was like in other eras. I am the daughter of a WWII Army veteran who went off to war, leaving his adoring wife and three charming children at home in their sm......more

Goodreads review by Linda on January 30, 2016

The North Platte Canteen: who knew it ever existed? This is nice feel-good nonfiction about a remarkable group of ladies who brought their small community together for the servicemen in WWII. Somewhat repetitious but a true account that is uplifting and optimistic. Journalist Bob Greene tells an int......more

Goodreads review by Julia on July 04, 2017

America in all her glory....when people truly cared for each other.......more

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