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http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071016/NEWS17/710160374/-1/NEWS

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Article published October 16, 2007

 

Lima's WW II canteen still serving memories

 

By JENNIFER FEEHAN

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

 

LIMA, Ohio - A bologna-salad sandwich, a piece of pie, and a steaming cup of coffee were just about as good as it got for troops passing through Lima by train during World War II.

 

Lima's "Free Servicemen's Canteen" - the longest continuously operating service canteen in the country - was, in Scott Trostel's words, hometown support at its finest.

 

"These guys did not get on a train to go off and fight a war not knowing how the people back home felt," said Mr. Trostel, a Fletcher, Ohio, historian who has written several books on the topic. "These people gave them food, drink, a magazine to read. They gave them emotional support, a smile, a listening ear - anything that was necessary to make sure these guys knew they would not be forgotten."...

Contact Jennifer Feehan at:

[email protected]

or 419-353-5972.

 

I like the big fence in between the station and the tracks! :lol:

 

Reminds me of Galion's depot.

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071019/NEWS17/710190367/-1/NEWS

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Article published October 19, 2007

 

Lima canteen historical designation notes where GIs got smiles and sandwiches

By JC REINDL

BLADE STAFF WRITER

 

 

LIMA, Ohio - Sixty-five years have passed, and Valaire Orchard is still uncertain whether it was civic duty or the prospect of meeting young handsome soldiers that initially inspired her and some girlfriends to help one day at Lima's "Free Servicemen's Canteen" in 1942.

 

But what kept the then-15-year-old Miss Orchard volunteering throughout World War II was witnessing just how much the simple gesture of a free ham salad sandwich and a warm cup of coffee meant to the traveling servicemen who stopped at her city's former Pennsylvania Railroad station...

 

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