Stopping at the North Platte Canteen, August 1945
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- In the first weeks of August 1945, troop trains were moving personnel all over the country as part of the build-up for the invasion of the Japanese home islands. On the Union Pacific, those trains always stopped at the legendary canteen at the North Platte station. Through a tremendous community effort there was always coffee and a friendly welcome waiting for the soldiers and sailors passing through. And somebody was always the birthday boy, even if it wasn't actually their birthday.
This is film taken by the Army of several different trains stopping at North Platte. I've cut them together into a single sequence. In the still-segregated Army, Black soldiers apparently rode in separate cars. Did they ride in separate trains? I don't know. Black soldiers were, however, welcome in the canteen, and weren't just served outside.
Only weeks after this film was shot, of course, the war was over, Japan having surrendered. Back alive in '45, indeed. Sadly, the depot was torn down in 1973, despite community efforts to save it.
The original film is silent, so I've added music by American composer Samuel Barber to the soundtrack, excerpts from his Capricorn Concerto, written 1943 while he was in the Army.
Note: after the credits is one shot taken from a train moving the opposite direction. It just didn't fit into the edit.
The video has some interesting details. There are both Black and White soldiers on the train, in what looks like separate cars. Most of the shots of the canteen show White soldiers and sailors (the Navy wasn't integrated yet), with one or two Black soldiers in the background. This being Nebraska, it looks like formal segregation wasn't being strictly observed. Also, at the end of the platform are a couple of women dressed as railroad workers, which is an underreported part of women's contribution to WWII.
"Back Alive in '45 !!!"
Perhaps it was the top kick's birthday with the cake? Great film! Thanks!
My father was on board the USS Salmon P Chase, an attack transport carrier of the USCG in the Phillipines awaiting the invasion of Japan early 1945. Her Navy captain ran it aground and the ship had to head for SF for repairs. When my father got there, he got orders to return to Boston, his home base. I asked him how he traveled cross country and he had no recollection. But now I can see him stopping in North Platte heading east instead of west in July., 1945. Thanks.
A different world so far removed from our own time, it's hard to even imagine.
Fortunately, some of these very soldiers and women can still recall this. UNfortunately, it's getting fewer and fewer everyday...😪
Only the very youngest and/or most long lived. An 18 year old in 1945 would have been born in 1927. Today, 97. Very few people make it that far.
One story I have heard, a town in Nebraska got word that a troop train would stop in the town carrying the local recruits. The entire town turned out to welcome the train with food and cheer. It turned out that the train did not have locals on it, but was another troop train passing through. It didn't matter, they fed those who where on the train and welcomed every train which passed through there the same. Did it for the duration the war. Not sure if story is true, but it it came to mind when this film showed up.
This canteen was located in North Platte, Nebraska, and yes you heard correct. Unfortunately when the Union Pacific ceased passenger service in 1971, the famous depot was razed by the railroad while the town was fighting to preserve it. However there is a museum in North Platte that tells the story about the canteen and the people that volunteered there and served it. Currently the town of North Platte is about 24,000 population and is home to the worlds largest railroad classification yard where I was employed.
@@ernestyeagley512 Thanks for the history!
The train was an eastbound train. The water tank and depot was on the south side of the tracks.
Ya know, you're right...
Worked in Omaha for 5 years and my job took many places in Nebraska, not a bad state other than the winter months.
My compliments to your choice of music to go with the film! Sounds just like what living in the Mid West should sound.
Noticed that -- black soldiers in a separate car, but the canteen is integrated.
Looks like the black GIs weren't allowed into the station diner, either.
There are a few, but you have to look carefully for them.