Live performance of Sentimental Journey: North Platte Canteen for the Lincoln County History Museum’s Heritage Festival in North Platte, NE.

Inspired by the real-life miracle of the North Platte Nebraska Canteen during WWII and Bob Green’s book, Once Upon a Town.

On December 17, 1941, North Platte, Nebraska, residents gathered with presents and baked goods at the town’s Union Pacific Depot; they had heard rumors that a troop train carrying their local boys would be coming through. When the train stopped, soldiers from Kansas, not Nebraska, stepped off the train. Despite her disappointment at not seeing their own boys, one local stepped forward and presented her gifts anyway. Everyone else followed. The soldiers were overwhelmed, and their gratitude sparked an idea. The residents of North Platte and the surrounding communities followed the lead of their ancestors in World War I by opening a Canteen at the depot. This canteen lasted for 54 months, involved 55,000 volunteers, and served more than 6 million service men and women during its duration. It was one of the largest and farthest reaching volunteer efforts of World War II.

Hear first-hand accounts of stories from the Canteen and entertainers during the war to see how songs helped “bring the boys home” during WWII.