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An interesting and heart-warming story, but the writing was too "schmultzy" for me, i.e., candy coated and simplistic.
This is a fabulous book. The opening 4 pages are pretty rough "content" for kids but otherwise it's a message that everyone needs to know about. The author does a very good job of communicating the times surrounding WWII and especially the kidness of Nebraskans.
Servicemen from all over America came through North Platte headed to battlefields all over the world. Bob Greene's Once Upon a Town tells the true story of tha actions of a small town in Nebraska that committed itself to meeting every train that came through town with troops on it from 1942-1946, Not even rationing could stop these kind townsfolk. They all told of being suprised and inspired by the kindness that they found there. They pooled their resources and met every train, night and day with hot coffee, sandwiches, cakes and cheerfu; smiles. They thought that what they were doing was happening all over America, but in truth they were the only ones going this extra mile. Those who survived talked about North Platte for the rest of their lives. They said it was what they were fighting for.Bob Greene tells both the townsfolks and the servicemen's experiences in this inspirational book.
The volunteers used their scarce food ration to make food for the servicemen, and the canteen was supported by generous donations in the form of money, food, and supplies from the people and business in the vicinities. This book is about American during World War II, a time when married men quit their jobs to join the military service, sixteen year old boys lied about their ages so they could enlist to serve their country, and most of the servicemen were kids who had freshly graduated from high school, they were lonely and scared, optimistic and brave. Author of "Once Upon Yesterday". As the book jumped back and forth from the wartime to the present, it could easily get confusing, but in the hand of a talented and experienced writer, it served as the bridge between now and then. This book is about the volunteers at the canteen of North Platte, a small town in Nebraska, who were women of all ages and from all walks of life, including farmer's wives, from Nebraska and Colorado in the vicinities of North Platte, and with their husbands, sons, brothers went to war, they were lonely and scared, optimistic and brave. As the servicemen pass through North Platte by the thousands daily in troop trains, on their way either to the east coast, then to Europe, or to west coast, then to the Pacific, they were met by the women at the canteen at the railroad station in downtown North Platte, without fail, day and night, rain or shine, during the four years of war, with home made sandwiches and cakes, hard boiled eggs, coffee, candies, cigarettes, chewing gums, magazines, all aplenty and all free of charge, to show them, with a smile, that their country cared about them and was grateful to them for what they were doing for the country. The author said he wanted to write the book when many of the women who had volunteered at the canteen and many of the servicemen who had been there were still alive, so that he could interview them, and the events were told just the way it had happened, without exaggeration or distortion. The book gave me a glance of America during World War II, as I came to America only years later.
An excellent look at what America was like in the 40's. If you can read this and not have a tear in your eye or feeling of love for god and country there is no hope for you.
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