Perhaps you have heard the...
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Perhaps you have heard the story. Charles Kuralt told about it in his travel book of 1985. In 2002, Bob Greene wrote a whole book about it titled Once Upon a Town. It's the story of the people of North Platte, Nebraska, a community of just 12,000 people, and the surrounding area, during World War II. On December 17, 1941, just 10 days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the families and friends of members of the Nebraska National Guard's Company D heard that the troops would be coming through North Platte on their way to the West Coast, where they would be deployed into the war zone. They planned to meet the train with food and gifts for the boys.
But the troops on the train were not from Nebraska, they were a company from Kansas. The folks decided to give their food and gifts to them anyway. When they saw how much the troops appreciated what they had done, they decided to begin the North Platte Canteen on Christmas Day and meet every troop train that came through with coffee, sandwiches, and treats. From Christmas, 1941, until after the war on April 1, 1946, they offered refreshments to every soldier who came through that little town -- as many as 23 trains in a day, as many as 8,000 troops in a day, came through. Altogether, they served a total of over six million members of the armed forces. Sacrificing their own rationed foodstuffs, using pheasants and venison and turkey eggs and honey and whatever they could save or adapt, people of nearly 200 surrounding towns and communities baked cakes, made sandwiches, offered popcorn balls and coffee, and cheered the troops on their way to war. As one soldier, years later, put it, "We were the hope of the country, and they warmed us with their support."
Mary offered Jesus a priceless gift on his way to the cross.
But the troops on the train were not from Nebraska, they were a company from Kansas. The folks decided to give their food and gifts to them anyway. When they saw how much the troops appreciated what they had done, they decided to begin the North Platte Canteen on Christmas Day and meet every troop train that came through with coffee, sandwiches, and treats. From Christmas, 1941, until after the war on April 1, 1946, they offered refreshments to every soldier who came through that little town -- as many as 23 trains in a day, as many as 8,000 troops in a day, came through. Altogether, they served a total of over six million members of the armed forces. Sacrificing their own rationed foodstuffs, using pheasants and venison and turkey eggs and honey and whatever they could save or adapt, people of nearly 200 surrounding towns and communities baked cakes, made sandwiches, offered popcorn balls and coffee, and cheered the troops on their way to war. As one soldier, years later, put it, "We were the hope of the country, and they warmed us with their support."
Mary offered Jesus a priceless gift on his way to the cross.
