Encore History joins 3rd Annual North Platte Canteen Festival, North Platte, NE
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - The Canteen Festival in North Platte celebrated its third year on Saturday.
The festival is held every year to commemorate the women who baked goods to give to the soldiers during World War II.
The festival started off with a pancake feed at the Lincoln County Historical Museum before switching over to the historic Canteen District in downtown North Platte. The festival included booths with arts, crafts and food.
This year’s biggest attraction was the performance of Encore History’s Jody Ingalls, who traveled to the festival from Kentucky.
Ingalls performed hits from the 1940s that helped U.S. troops win the Second World War.
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Click through top photo for a news clip on the North Platte Canteen Festival, which commemorates one of the longest-lasting volunteer efforts of the war, a canteen started by a small Nebraska town that served over 6 million soldiers by then end of the war (more canteen info).
Read below for the stories of the two soldiers who served in the uniforms worn by Karsten Ingalls (left top photo) and Andrew Thomson (second from left top photo). David Ingalls (center Canteen District photo) is also wearing an officer’s uniform from Lt. Colonel J.W. Miller, M.D.
Canteen Festival, North Platte, NE | Photo credit George Lauby, North Platte Bulletin
Henry R. Peck
Henry R. Peck was sent from Fort Benning, GA to Pearl Harbor after it was bombed. He later served at Fort Benjamin Harrison, IN, and then worked as a civilian at Fort Knox, KY, as a heavy equipment operator. He died on April 23, 2009 at the age of 94, in a tractor accident, having been married to his wife Alma (pictured left) for 73 years. They had eloped to Hodgenville, KY in 1936 because their parents had disapproved of the match. We’re thankful to Erin Mabe and her family for sharing Henry’s uniform and family legacy with us and thank Mr. Peck for his service to our country.
J.W. Miller, M.D.
Captain J.W. Miller, M.D. served in the reserves at the Station hospital in Ft. Knox 1941-1943.
May 1943 to November 1945, he served in North Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Sicily, Italy in various medical units as a Lt. Colonel.
His son, Mike Miller, a Vietnam veteran, generously donated his dad’s uniforms to Encore History for the next generation to enjoy. We thank both Mike and his dad for their service to our country.