Once Upon a Town

by Bob Greene

  “My wife and I finished our meal and left. We just got back on the highway. I’ve always thought, in the years since, that I should have gone into the Chamber of Commerce or something that day. Found someone to thank. I’m pretty sure the waitress never passed along our thanks to her parents. That’s all I wanted to do when I was in town—to thank somebody.”

  I left the place where the train station used to be, taking one last look. I was going to have some dinner at the hotel, then pack so that I could leave town in the morning.

  Around eleven o’clock that night I was feeling restless and couldn’t sleep, and I remembered that in the hotel’s restaurant there had been some old photographs of North Platte through the years, including photos from the war years. I had seen them as I’d eaten that evening, and on other evenings during my stay.

  I thought I’d go back downstairs and spend just a little more time with the pictures. When I got to the restaurant, though, it was closed for the night, its lights off. But the adjacent bar was open, if not exactly crowded; the bartender said that I was welcome to turn the restaurant lights on and wander around looking at the photographs.

  So I did. There was a photo of the women of the Canteen serving the soldiers at one of the long tables covered with dishes of donated food; there was a photo of the soldiers and sailors running inside from a train; there was a photo of a workman adjusting the Canteen sign outside the depot as the volunteers stood watching.

  And then there was one I hadn’t noticed before. It was a photograph of North Platte on V-J Day—it looked as if it had been taken in the evening. The downtown streets, in the area of the Pawnee Hotel, were filled with cars, mostly black sedans. It was a celebration—downtown was jammed bumper-to-bumper—but if a big celebration can ever be described as orderly, this one appeared to be. The war was over; the people of the town had turned out to rejoice together.

  Tonight, all these summers later, in the bar of my hotel the television sets were showing a sports event to the few people still having drinks, but the play-by-play was turned down, and music from a tape or a jukebox filled the room. I could hear it—a song by the rock group Kansas.

  I looked at the faces of the men and women in the photographs—the young men in uniform stepping off the troop trains, the women working in the Canteen—and, as the sound drifted over from the barroom, I listened to the words from the song.

  Dust in the wind,

  All we are is dust in the wind….

  I stayed a few more minutes, then departed for my room, turning off the lights on my way out.

  Acknowledgments

  There are many people who helped me during the writing of this book. I’d like to thank them here.

  At William Morrow, the professionalism on deadline of Tom Dupree and his assistant, Yung Kim, was a source of steady reliability. Michael Morrison, Lisa Gallagher and Sharyn Rosenblum have made my association with Morrow a pleasurable one.

  At Janklow & Nesbit, Eric Simonoff, once again, was instrumental to my work with his advice, counsel and friendship. To Mort Janklow, as always, goes my appreciation and admiration.

  In Nebraska, the fine assistance of Katie Klabusich was invaluable. Katie’s diligence, her eagerness to work long hours, and her eye and ear for detail were a constant help as I did my reporting and research.

  At the Chicago Tribune, my thanks for making it possible to write my daily newspaper columns while working on this book, as well as for all the kindnesses over the years, go to Ann Marie Lipinksi, Howard Tyner, Jim O’Shea, Gerould Kern, Dale Cohen, Jim Warren, George de Lama, Don Wycliff, Bruce Dold, Tim Bannon, Geoff Brown, Mary Elson, Jeff Lyon, Scott Powers, Mike Zajakowski, Marsha Peters, Chris Rauser, Bill Hageman, Nadia Cowen, Bill O’Connell, Stacy Deibler, Stephan Benzkofer, Rhonda Rogers, Digby Solomon, Ben Estes, Jill Blackman, Charlie Meyerson and Dan Kening. Off the newsroom floors, my thanks go to John Madigan, Dennis FitzSimons, Jack Fuller, Scott Smith, Owen Youngman and David Williams. At WGN television, I am grateful to colleagues Carol Fowler, Steve Sanders, Allison Payne, Al Romero, David Parrish, Jennifer Lyons, Mitch Locin, John Owens, Eric Scott, Brad Piper and Vince Rango.

  It was North Platte resident Cal Robinson who, many years ago, first told me about the Canteen, and about what had happened in his town during World War II. Mr. Robinson’s emotion for, and pride in, the place where he lived were so heartfelt and vivid that I never forgot what he had told me—and I always promised myself that one day I would get there to see and hear for myself. I thank him for that—and for helping me to understand the city and the Canteen.

  For a reporter to go into a town as a stranger, and try to tell the town’s story, would be a nearly impossible task without the generosity and goodwill of the people who live there. I cannot imagine any reporter being treated with more openness and kindness than I was by the people of North Platte. Many of their names you have read in this book, but so many more, through their taking of the time to speak with me, to share their memories of their town, and to make me feel at home were just as important in helping me tell the story of the Canteen. I will never be able to thank them enough. They are:

  Marilyn Peterson, Marion Effenbeck, Lloyd Speicher, Dean Hiner, Faye Fisher, Gene Smith, Ken Killham, Cecil Jacobson, Walt Carlyle, Marge McHarness, Charles Bost-wick, Karen Hipwell, Lori Schoenholz, Dick Linn, Bob Kukas, Bruce Friedrich, David Bernard-Stevens, Jackie Lashley, Muriel Barrett, Kathy Swain, Mike Sharkey, Laura Johnston, Christian Zavisca, Kelley Gavin, Tonya Cross, Pat Dannatt, Frank Graham, Jenny Hasenauer, Sharron Hollen, Eric Seacrest, Craig Jones, George Lauby, Mark Lewis, Kristi Nixon, Antone Oseka, Misty Ryun, Tad Stryker, Rick Windham, Derek Lippincott, Dan Fisher, Alicia Rivera, Barb Fear, Amanda Olson, Deb Brooks, Tonya Carroll, Chuck LaLanne, Andrid Olsen, Heather Shlaight, Jessica Simpson, Aaron Brannigan, LeeAnn Thompson, Lisa Blessin, Shirley Woodruff, Tammy LaLanne, Mary Anderson, Sheila Snyder, Tim Anderson, Howard Webster, Neal Baxter, Marge Jones, Merilyn Mitchem, Milo Shavlik, Irene Bystrom, Frances Newberry, Joe Ratzlaff, Nina Johnson, Dorothy Berryman, Les Weil, Anna Glaze, Jim Beveridge, Marilyn Brohman, Eunice Brown, Eileen Furrow and Ann Smith.

  I would like to say a special word of thanks to Pasquale Grillo, an Army infantry soldier who passed through North Platte on a troop train in 1944, and who in recent years has suffered a stroke that makes conversation difficult for him. He spent long hours providing written answers to the questions I sent him, because he wanted to do everything he could to help with my reporting. Even though he can no longer talk without effort, his voice is very much a part of this book.

  My admiration goes to two Nebraska historians whose affection for their part of the country, and their work in preserving its place in the nation’s tapestry, not only provided valuable background information for me, but was of incalculable help in enabling me to locate the volunteers from the Canteen years, and the soldiers who once passed through North Platte. These historians are James J. Reisdorff and Martin Steinbeck; I hope they will feel I have done a worthy job in telling this story.

  At the Union Pacific Railroad’s headquarters in Omaha, Mark Davis was gracious in allowing me to have access to the railroad’s archives.

  For the sections of the book dealing with the history of the sandhills, I owe particular thanks to Marianne Beel, who explained to me the significance and nuances of that part of Nebraska life.

  More than anyone else, though, the person to whom I am grateful beyond words is Keith Blackledge, to whom, along with his wife, Mary Ann, this book is dedicated.

  Mr. Blackledge turned seventy-five years old during the time I was reporting and writing Once Upon a Town. He is the retired editor of the North Platte Telegraph; he led that paper for twenty-five years, from 1967 to 1992.

  His friendship toward me, his endless patience with my questions, his willingness to walk me through various aspects of North Platte’s past…all were indispensable to my work. His love of, and uncompromisingly high standards for, his town are evident in everything he does.
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  Most impressive is his absolute sense of honor and fairness. He comes from the tradition of smaller-town editors who know that, unlike their big-city counterparts, they are likely to encounter on the streets each day at least one person about whom their paper has reported in that morning’s edition—so they had better be confident enough in what they have printed to in good conscience look that person right in the face.

  I made certain that the last stop I made before leaving North Platte was at Mr. Blackledge’s house. I will say publicly here what I said in private to him that day: If every newspaperman and newspaperwoman approached the job in the clear-eyed and honest way that he does, with his readiness to give every person a chance for an unprejudiced hearing and just consideration, then we would never have to worry about the public having a low opinion of our business. My hope is that Mr. Blackledge’s spirit is on every page of this book; it would not exist without him.

  About the Author

  Bestselling author and award-winning journalist BOB GREENE’s books include Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War; Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan; Be True to Your School; and the novel All Summer Long. As a magazine writer, he has been lead columnist for Life and Esquire; as a broadcast journalist, he has served as contributing correspondent for ABC News Nightline.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Praise for Once Upon a Town

  “The quintessential American story. A small town opens its arms to young soldiers on their way to fight WWII.”

  —Aaron Brown, CNN’s NewsNight with Aaron Brown

  “A lovely book—one that may make your eyes glisten. What an astonishing achievement the Canteen was.”

  —Hartford Courant

  “Once again, Bob Greene has shown us why he is one of the best storytellers of contemporary times.”

  —Tampa Tribune

  “Meticulous research and storytelling…. History that documents the selflessness and brotherhood that sometimes seem gone with the distant past.”

  —Associated Press

  “Greene’s writing reminds me of the wartime reporting by Ernie Pyle, who seldom wrote about generals or big shots but preferred to dignify the enlisted men in his columns and books…. I salute the author for preserving this story of another time in another America.”

  —Herbert Mitgang, Chicago Tribune Book Review

  “Inspiring—the indomitable human spirit.”

  —Times-News (Erie, PA)

  “Poignant and heartfelt.”

  —Journal Star (Lincoln, NE)

  “A lively, affectionate look at small-town America…. [It]deserves the widest audience.”

  —Kirkus Reviews

  “You might find tears welling in your eyes.”

  —Fort Worth Star-Telegram

  “Heartfelt…. Touching…. A world where anything can come true and miracles can happen.”

  —Ohio State University Lantern

  “A tale of small-town generosity in a time of war.”

  —Omaha World-Herald

  “We can thank Bob Greene and the folks who, long years ago, gave freely and cheerfully of what they had—a smile, a dance, an egg salad sandwich. They did it not for medals but because it was something they could do.”

  —North Platte Telegraph

  “Greene [is] one of the great contemporary chroniclers of American life.”

  —Orlando Sentinel

  “Greene’s sketches of change tap a universal feeling: the bittersweet melancholy involved in recalling times past, the poignant ache—more than mere nostalgia—that accompanies our awareness that we are all creatures of time who ‘can’t go home again.’…Standing at the intersection of history and memory,[Greene] tells us about it beautifully.”

  —Providence Journal

  “Moving…. Greene’s skill makes this homage not just a time capsule but a work that will strike a resonating chord in those seeking to remember the generosity and selflessness of many when faced with adversity and peril.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  “Charming…. A portrait of the can-do spirit at work.”

  —Richmond Times-Dispatch

  “This is a great story of love, country, and uncalled-for service in a time of national crisis.”

  —Rocky Mountain News

  “Remarkable…. A hopeful book, a story about the great expanse that can be the human heart, the only place where a lost America may yet be found.”

  —Grand Island Independent (NE)

  BOOKS BY BOB GREENE

  Once Upon a Town

  Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War

  Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights

  The 50-Year Dash

  Rebound: The Odyssey of Michael Jordan

  All Summer Long

  Hang Time

  He Was a Midwestern Boy on His Own

  Homecoming: When the Soldiers Returned from Vietnam

  Be True to Your School

  Cheeseburgers

  Good Morning, Merry Sunshine

  American Beat

  Bagtime (with Paul Galloway)

  Johnny Deadline, Reporter

  Billion Dollar Baby

  Running: A Nixon-McGovern Campaign Journal

  We Didn’t Have None of Them Fat Funky Angels on the Wall of Heartbreak Hotel, and Other Reports from America

  BOOKS BY BOB GREENE AND D. G. FULFORD

  To Our Children’s Children

  Journal of Family Memories

  Notes on the Kitchen Table: Families Offer Messages of Hope for Generations to Come

  To Our Children’s Children: Preserving Family Histories for Generations to Come

  Credits

  Cover design by Robin Bilardello

  Cover photograph courtesy of Union Pacific Museum Collection

  Copyright

  Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission granted by the author to quote a passage from All Aboard!: The Railroad in American Life, by George H. Douglas, © 1992 George H. Douglas.

  ONCE UPON A TOWN. Copyright © 2002 John Deadline Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  EPub © Edition MARCH 2006 ISBN: 9780061751271

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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