Rating: 
Summary: A Little-Known Story
Review: From "Be True to Your School" to "Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Dreams" to this, his most recent ode to American, Bob Greene's topics never fail to appeal to me.In "Once Upon a Town", Greene visits the now-bypassed town of North Platte, Nebraska to write about the North Plate Canteen, operated from 1941-45 by volunteers who staffed and stocked the train station to offer food and comfort to American soldiers passing through on the troop trains. Greene writes of an amazing series of events, started by a letter to the local newspaper asking why the townspeople could not use the short stop of the troop trains in North Platte to cheer the soldiers up and show support for what they were doing. Within days, women from all over the state arrived with provisions to make sandwiches, and with cakes, cookies, magazines, playing cards, coffee, fruit and cigarettes. The first night the volunteers provided these things to the soldiers was Christmas night, 1941--I can only imagine how surprised these soldiers must have been to be greeted, in the middle of nowhere, by women with fruit, coffee, and sandwiches! In a time of restriction, shortages, and rationing, this incredible volunteer effort continued every single day, from dawn until midnight, for four years. Most days, they gave out twenty bushel baskets of sandwiches a day....sometimes egg salad, sometimes pheasant! Word was passed as a train approached North Platte and the GIs were ready to debark as soon as the train pulled in, looking forward to the hospitality of the citizenry. Soldiers would often play on a piano that was in the train station and those inside sang along. The story of the coffee cups was interesting (there were no paper cups in those days)--the soldiers took the cups with them to the next station where they were collected and returned to North Platte on the next train back. Greene uses the words of many of those who were involved with the canteen and those who were on the trains -- and shows us the roots of American generosity and patriotism, small kindnesses that, when multiplied, become a nation's pride. This heartwarming book is sure to delight. In the same vein, I just read of a new book about the people of Gander, Newfoundland, who opened their hearts and homes to 6,000 people whose planes were grounded there on September 11. I look forward to reading that as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching account of smalltown life in World War II
Review: Bob Greene has long been one of my favorite authors (think
DUTY: A FATHER, HIS SON, AND THE MAN WHO WON THE
WAR; BE TRUE TO YOUR SCHOOL; HANG TIME; etc.) . . . my
only regret is that his syndicated column is not run in my
local daily. So when I heard about his latest book, ONCE UPON A TOWN,
I had to get hold of it as soon as possible . . . was I ever glad that I did, too . . . this is the touching account of the miracle of North Platte, Nebraska, a small town that made it a point to take care of any and all soldiers who rolled through on troop trains to their ultimate destinations in Europe and the Pacific during World War II. But for the few minutes they were in North Platte, they were
treated to coffee, music, home-cooked food, magazines,
and convivial conversation . . . this might not sound like such
a big deal now, but you must keep in mind that this effort
was staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers--and was
open from 5 a.m. until the last troop train of the day pulled
away at midnight. Greene, in writing the book, was in search of "the best America
there ever was" . . . methinks he may well have found it. There were many memorable passages; among them:
* She met the man who would become her husband, Donald Robertson, in 1934 when they were students at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln; they were married three years later. "He became a desk clerk at the Orrington Hotel in Evanston, Illinois," she said, "and then he was a desk clerk at the Park Lane in Toledo, Ohio, the city where both of our daughters were born. I asked him if, when they finally met, they had fallen in love right away.
"Oh, I don't know," he said, half a century later, laughter in his voice. "We're still working on it." * [the interview with one soldier who had passed through North Platte]:
"It was either going to be freedom or slavery. If we had lost the war, the men would have been in slave camps, and the women, if they were good-looking, would have been in the officers' clubs of the enemy who defeated us, doing their 'duty.' Our enemies would have confiscated all of our wealth, all of our nation's art . . . everything. We never think about that, because we won the war. But if we had lost . . ." * The coaches circumspectly pointed out to me the boys they
thought had the best prospects for making the team, and some
of the boys saw the coaches pointing, and I thought about boys
not much older than these, boys who once were taught, at basic
training, that breaking out of the crowd was not supposed to be their goal. Boys who rode the train into and out of this town, many years before this summer morning, members of a team with different kinds of uniforms. "For our away games, we travel as far a Lincoln," one of the coaches told me, and I thought about young men who were on traveling squads that hurried through here on their way to Europe, on their way to the Pacific. Away games.
Rating: 
Summary: An Article, Not A Book
Review: Once Upon A Town is a story that needed at long last to be told. A lively WWII train station Canteen operated by the people in and around North Platte, Nebraska for the benefit of American servicemen on their way to and from the War is the center of focus. The Canteen provided a sincere welcome, smile, thank-you and a respite from Army food and refreshments for the young men who, by their testimony late in life, needed all of these so much at the time that across a 50-year span they have never forgotten the kindness and generosity unexpectedly found on a brief stop on the way to War. The people who shared their rationed personal goods, their time, and their energy to provide a measure of comfort to those passing through on the constant stream of troop trains did so not to seek recognition, but solely for the obvious purpose they achieved; i.e., providing the young soldiers, sailors and marines a pleasant memory, a taste of home, and the assurance that their sacrifice was profoundly appreciated and was being matched as well as possible by devotion to duty on the home front. There is a great deal of repetition in the book. The troop trains stopped for only ten minutes in North Platte, affording little time for unique experiences that would have given some breadth to the story. The memories related by those who passed through the Canteen predictably were uniformly emotional and full of praise for the people out on the sand hills of Western Nebraska. After several of these testimonials are read, it is seen that all of the ten-minute experiences and reactions to them were fundamentally identical. The author says a great deal about present-day North Platte, most of which bears little relevance to the warm and pleasant essential story, but does fill up pages that would be difficult to fill otherwise and provides occasional glue of sorts for a hundred or more short testimonials. The story would have made a fine article, less so a book, the reading of which, therefore, is an experience rather like that of the soldiers looking out the windows of the troop trains of the 1940s - miles of sand hills between oases.
Rating:
Summary: A Different Time...
Review: "Once Upon a Town" is a book that badly needed to be written. My parents who both served in World War II, years ago,told me the story about the North Platte Canteen. This canteen, organized in a little town in Nebraska, made a point of serving food and drink at no charge to every serviceman and servicewoman who passed through town on troop trains during World War II (1941-1945). Soldiers and sailors all over the country spoke in awe about the wonderful food and treatment they got from the townspeople of North Platte, Nebraska. Many soldiers struck up penpal correspondence with townspeople they met. A number of women in the North Platte area ended up marrying soldiers when they returned from the war. Bob Greene takes a "Studs Terkel approach" to this subject and much of the book consists of narratives of older people who were present at the time. One thing that really stands out is the unbelievable effort that the people in North Platte (and surrounding areas) made to run the canteen. Only a few thousand people lived in the area. Yet, millions of soldiers passed through the town. Nevertheless, very soldier was served food and drink. Many people contributed their ration coupons, personal savings, and a huge amount of unpaid labor to see that the canteen was always running. These people will forever remain in the hearts of the soldiers and sailors who received their warm hospitality Greene also relates the changes that have come to North Platte since the war. Sadly, many have not been for the good. A town that used to see 32 passenger trains a day pass through it, now sees none at all. The railroad station and area where the canteen operated was torn down by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1973. All that remains is a small historical marker commemorating the canteen. It strikes me that North Platte has suffered the way many small towns in America have. Agriculture has declined. Industry and technology tends to base itself in large urban areas. This is a "feel good" book. As I read this, I was reminded of the adage that when it comes to saving our world all of us must "think globally and act locally". This is precisely what the people of North Platte, Nebraska did during World War II. Any serviceman who passed through there will tell you that it made an enormous difference too.
Rating:
Summary: Twenty Minutes in North Platte
Review: Once Upon a Town, the Miracle of the North Platte Canteen
Bob Greene
ISBN 0-06-008196-1 During WWII, people in North Platte and neighboring towns in Nebraska and Colorado took it upon themselves to show their appreciation to the soldiers on troop trains that passed through town, sometimes more than thirty a day. The locals never missed a day throughout the war. They baked cakes, fried chickens, made sandwiches, and poured glasses of milk. Young ladies danced with the soldiers. High school girls' names and addresses were placed in popcorn balls for the soldiers to find, so the soldiers could write to them. Despite the fact that the train stops were no more than twenty minutes, soldiers who were located over fifty years later and interviewed, seventy and eighty year old men, often were reduced to tears remembering the kindness with which they were treated by the people at the North Platte Canteen. Many of the soldiers, eighteen or nineteen years old, were away from home for the first time. They faced uncertain futures, with little life experience on which to draw. From my Vietnam era experience, I know that they were afraid and that the thought of what lay ahead of them seldom left their consciousness. This book has some of the feel of "The Greatest Generation". It is hard to remember the American society of those days, how little people had and how little they expected. It is good to be reminded of a time when people did something for someone else because they thought it was the right thing to do. The people who worked at the canteen knew that many of the soldiers they met would never return home, and these people were determined to do something for them. When the canteen closed at war's end, the administrative committee declined to spend any of the funds that had been collected, for a memorial to the canteen. A memorial was fine they thought, but not with money that had been raised for the soldiers. The remaining balance was donated to VA hospitals that were taking care of wounded veterans. Author Bob Green, who visited North Platte to examine local records and to interview, writes that the old railroad depot that was used as the canteen was torn down some years ago. All that remains of the canteen, that became famous among servicemen during the war, are old city records, newspaper clippings from a defunct newspaper, the memories of the folks who worked there, and those of the surviving servicemen who visited. If there is a message in this book, it is, perhaps, that, through the canteen worker's efforts for the soldiers, these good people found their finest hour.
Rating:
Summary: The Spirit of Nebraska...
Review: I lived in Holbrook, Nebraska from 1963 - 1973 and had never heard of the Canteen in North Platte. Also being a WW II buff, this book ingtrigued me. Reading through it I could visualize all of the small towns and areas that were mentioned where hard-working farm folks pitched in to keep the Canteen stocked with food and goodwill. My memories of the Nebraska folks are full of warm, welcoming, caring, neighborly people who would do most anything they could for you. This book surely shows the spirit of the people of Nebraska, which I am certain still prevails today. I did read the name of "Holbrook" in one of the book's chapters, and now I wonder about the "old folks" I knew back in the days I lived there -- did they participate in helping keep the Canteen going? I imagine they did, knowing how they would want to help in times of need. I've heard a lot of people complain about traveling through Nebraska because it's a boring ride -- they think there is no scenery to speak of. But within those wide open spaces and rolling hills and canyons there are folks with hearts of gold, and Bob Greene helped us see some of that. Good for him! We need to know the good that is in the world.
Rating:
Summary: A story that will bring tears more than once
Review: Once I found this book I couldn't put it down. It's one of the most heart-warming batch of stories one will ever read, and I teared up more than once while enjoying this book. I had never heard of the canteen, but have driven by North Platte while on vacation. Next time thru I am going to have to stop and chat with the senior generation and thank them. That is what this book is really about, saying thanks to all the people who helped out in a remarkable little way during the trying times of war. The stories do get a little repetitive by the end, but it is well worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Golly gee whiz! A great story, told poorly
Review: Bob Greene's "Once Upon A Town" involves the wonderful story of the North Platte Canteen. Unfortunately, it also includes far too many instances of Bob Greene telling us what a great story it is. It's as if Mr. Greene wrote about two dozen different columns on the North Platte Canteen and felt the need to justify his interest in the subject in every single "column." I got very tired of being reminded, ad nauseam, that no passenger trains run through North Platte any more, that the depot has been torn down, and that the story of the North Platte canteen is a very great story indeed. I feel if a careful editor had checked the continuity of his story, the result would have been much more felicitous. The book suffers from poor editing throughout, including a sentence on page 228 which contains two misspellings: "'We weren't told,' said Edward J. Fouss, eight-one, who now lives in Eufala, Oklahoma." (Correct: "eighty-one," and "Eufaula.") Each mistake is eminently forgivable, but I'm not surprised that one sentence in this book could contain two errors. Surely it was rushed to press without enough preparation. I thought little enough of "Once Upon A Town" that I cancelled a pending order for another book by Bob Greene, for fear of being subjected to the same approach. I wish the publisher would take some time to rework this book, and give the story of the North Platte Canteen the treatment it deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Quick, quaint, & sentimental.......
Review: I can only guess that reviewers before me let sentiment play a role in their rankings. Certainly, Bob Greene tugs the heart strings as he recounts the story of the North Platte Canteen. Combining a modern day tour of this small Nebraska town with the memories of WWII servicemen and civilians who visited and worked the canteen, Greene has brought a glorious time of self-sacrifice to bear upon the reader's emotions. However, I find I must consider the writing as well as the subject matter when ranking a book and, thus, Greene's effort simply does not merit 5 stars. Assuredly, Greene has provided a compelling look at a wonderful and charitable effort that touched the lives of soldiers and sailors throughout the country. But, it's a brief look, more travel writing than serious historical survey and, as such, perhaps a bit too light an effort to earn more than a 4 star grade. Nevertheless, I recommend it as a quick weekend read that is well worth the readers investment.
Rating:
Summary: One of those books that gives you a warm feeling inside
Review: I read this book within two days. I first heard of the town through Parade Magazine,when the author did a story on the town and what they did during the war. For over five years, the citizens of North Platte and surrounding areas provided food,drink,and encouragement to the men travelling on troop trains back and forth from the coasts. What happened is nothing short of amazing. The amazing thing is how did they get some of the ingredients needed for the stuff they made in a time of rationing? Nothing short of a miracle. One lady spoke of making her cakes with turkey eggs as opposed to chicken eggs which really saved on total eggs used and didn't change the taste. All I can say is nothing short of Wow! This book comes highly recommended by me. If you ever felt you were facing a mountain and didn't think you could cross it, this is the book to read.
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