A Brief History of the Junior Girls Canteen, Troy, Ohio
By Scott D. Trostel
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At Troy, Ohio, thirty neighborhood girls between the ages of six and sixteen operated a track side free canteen for the soldiers in WWII. This was the only canteen operated by teenagers in the United States. Troy, Ohio, a typical town in rural western Ohio, had a railroad water tower and modest railroad station. At the station platform the girls provided dedicated service to approximately 600,000 soldiers on all passing trains between 1943 and 1946. Service men and service women from all parts of America were provided sandwiches, pecan pies, cookies, coffee, magazines and friendly smiles as their trains paused at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station. The girls gave up their free time, and some sleep for compassionate service to strangers on all trains.
From the Canteen hut in adjacent Herrlinger Park, the girls made up many sandwiches, desserts, and snacks for each train. In three years they filled an estimated 270,000 shopping bags and baskets with food, magazines, and games. They served over 600,000 pecan pies, a specialty of the canteen. They served troops on passenger trains, entire troop trains, new recruits, returning veterans and wounded veterans on hospital trains. Every train was served no matter the hour, in summer's heat and some of the worst winter weather in 100 years. It all occurred in less than seven minutes per train stop.
These are the girls who staffed the Junior Girls Canteen at Troy, Ohio during WWII. Spread across the table are many items to be packed in baskets and shopping bags for the next train. A rack of shopping bags are visible in the upper left portion of the photo. Photo dates March 1945. -- Scott Trostel collection, all rights reserved
The girls overcame many difficulties which would have discouraged any man or woman had the cause been less worthy, or had the community been less wholehearted. As their selfless efforts became known, residents of Troy and communities in six counties were united by a single cause in support of those girls efforts. Not once did the community allow the supply of any scarce items to fail. Sugar, meat, mayonnaise, coffee, drinking cups, candy and all the other items civilians scrambled for were made available unceasingly to the girls.
Mothers of the girls and neighborhood volunteers man the canteen kitchen in preparation for the arrival of the next train. The ladies on the right are packing potato chips into small bags. The ladies in the upper left are preparing sandwiches.
Between train arrivals the girls made up boxes of snacks, books and magazines for the military hospitals in several states.
The Junior Girls Canteen presented a united gesture with a powerful and lasting humanitarian purpose. Those girls and other volunteers were Troy's dedicated and unsung ambassadors to the many who stood in harm's way. On behalf of a grateful region they expressed gratitude to the many troops.
The Roster of Identified Volunteers
MOTHERS AND NEIGHBORS
Ellen Abshire, Sarah Attenweiler, May Butler, Elizabeth Galbreath, Miriam Hartzell, Treva Alberta "Mary" Hobbs, Mrs. R. Kinder, Ruth McWilliams, Loretta Pour, Mrs. Frank Renneker, Mrs. Robbins, Opal Scott, Mary O’Connell- Sundrup, Mary Tooley, Margaret Wilt
THE CANTEEN GIRLS
Mary Jane Attenweiler, Margaret "Peggy" Attenweiler, Eileen Burgin, Marilyn Chase, Nancy Chronaberry, Thelma Dohm, Patty Fox, Katherine Hartzell, Alice Hobbs, Jeannine Kendall, Kathleen Kendall, Patty Kirkland, Doris McMath, Lois McWilliams, Phyllis McWilliams, Mary Lee Mumford, Jackie Ovenshire, Eleanor Priest, Patricia Pour, Marlene Pour, Patricia Wray, Nanette Rudisill, Rosemary Rudisill, Mary Margaret Rush, Mary Lou Scott, Phyllis Shane, Charlene Strome, Hazel Sturgeon, Betty Tooley, Helen Turner
MASCOT
Mickey Attenweiler
A FEW JUNIOR GIRL CANTEEN MEMORIES
On December 24, 1944, at 9PM that night, the girls stood in a wind in zero weather and met a troop train out of Fort Hood Texas, with 400 men from the 661st Tank Destroyer Battalion who hadn't so much as heard a "Merry Christmas" and had all but given up hope for any Christmas. Those girls put on baskets of food and gifts from the community as those men continued on their journey to the Battle of the Bulge. They gave up Christmas Eve for total strangers in uniform destined for one of the worst battles of the European Theater of the war. Five letters have survived from soldiers who were on that train, all were written from the frozen fox holes of the Bulge, those girls gestures meant that much.
A 15 year-old canteen girl had to baby-sit her 2 year-old sister, and a troop train came in, so the toddler went with her older sister to the platform as they fed the troops. The young fathers shoved the coach windows open so they could talk to the young child and touch her hands, they missed their own children. Tears would be running down those soldiers cheeks as the train rolled on.
Another of the canteen girls started helping at age eleven. Not too long after she started making the daily vigil to the canteen, her family's home burned to the ground. The family was left with virtually nothing. One of the canteen mother's went to bat and helped them to get located into a small cabin. The cabin had fallen into a state of disrepair and was not immediately habitable. This young girl and her siblings slept under the stars for several days while the cabin was cleaned and gotten into some sort of occupancy. She'd get up in the middle of the night, walk to the canteen and meet incoming trains, then do it again the next morning, between helping her mother with cleaning. She never complained even though all of her earthly possessions had been destroyed in the fire. The soldiers needed to be served and she made the commitment in spite of her own situation.
The near consistency of the letters of appreciation from those soldiers who almost universally expressed their appreciation and that because of these girls and their humanitarian gestures, hundreds of thousands of men knew what they were fighting for. Those girls gave up their free time willingly, not for 15 minutes to meet one train, but for 11,000 trains of soldiers, over 600,000 troops who stood in harms way.
On May 21, 1945, the Canteen Girls were called to a Troop Train wreck at Piqua, Ohio, to provide food and beverages to about 400 stranded troops
The
Historical Marker to the Junior Girls Canteen at Herrlinger Park in Troy,
Ohio.
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Marker verbage:
JUNIOR GIRLS CANTEEN 1943-1946 During World War II, forty of Troy’s teenage girls, their
mothers, and volunteers operated a free canteen service for troops on the
platform of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad station. The group began as a few
neighborhood girls providing magazines to soldiers while trains were stopped.
With support and donations from Miami County communities and six additional
counties, thousands of food baskets and countless drinks were given to
approximately 600,000 soldiers at trackside. Books, games, cigarettes, and
other sundries were made available to soldiers on their trips to and from
Europe or the Pacific. The volunteers of the Junior Girls Canteen served every
train and soldier that came through the station, whether it was in the dead of
night or the coldest day of winter. Throughout World War II, many other
canteens were created across the nation, including eleven other canteens in
Ohio.
Troy's Junior Canteen Girls November 11, 2006. Left to Right in the front row are Jackie Ovenshire-Dierks, Rosemary Rudisill-Deaton, Patty Kirkland-Beam and Marlene Pour Reid. Second Row: Doris McMath-Hislop, Patricia Pour-McNaulty, Mary Margaret Rush-Gray, Patricia Wray-Furrow, Lois McWilliams-Barnhart, Thelma Dohm-Jotcham, Betty Tooley-Baldwin, Eileen Burgin-Petticrew, Phyllis Shane-Gass. Third row: Helen Turner-Hawkins, Mary Lou Scott-Nordmark and Mary Lee Mumford-Clawson. -- Denise Zirkle photo, all rights reserved.
Troy Junior Girl's Canteen Marker Dedication
Troy, Ohio, November 11, 2006
Printed below is the key-note address by Scott D. Trostel. It has been requested by many of the attendees to the marker dedication ceremony, so he has graciously given permission to post it for all to enjoy.
KEY NOTE ADDRESS
Junior Canteen Girls Marker Dedication
November 11, 2006
Today we come to honor a group of elite veterans who fought a different kind of war and to dedicate for future generations, a permanent reminder of the compassionate service that once occurred here.
At the sound of the approaching train whistle they came running. The girls were armed with baskets and bags of sandwiches, pecan pies, desserts, drinks, magazines and secret weapons; smiles and a friendly word, offered to strangers in uniform.
The Junior Girls Canteen volunteers met over 600,000 soldiers just to my left. The girls admitted it was fun, but in the bigger picture it was more, a lot more.
Theirs was a journey and a humanitarian mission to make the lives of those many strangers a little better if for just a few minutes. This was a spiritual journey. They welcomed the strangers, gave drink to the thirsty and food to the hungry, Theirs was the story of the loaves and fishes. I calculated that these ladies passed out over 300,000 pounds of food. They didn’t provide the food, it all came from the homes of thousands of residents in the six county region. Those people sacrificed their rationed food so the girls could give it to the many strangers in uniform, all for the common good of troops going to fight a great evil and stand in harms way.
When the Associate Press interviews were conducted, the question was posed, "What makes the Troy canteen so special that you would devote a book to it?"
A portion of my answer . . . The Troy story stands unique among all of the canteens. This, of the 40 WW II canteens I have some data on, is the only one operated by teenage girls . . . They had no business plan, no financial resources on which to rely but the strength of each other and goodwill of at first the neighborhood and later the community and an entire six county region, this is what made this project a success. I still marvel at the fact many ordinary foods were rationed and thousands of citizens gave up their rations so that the men and women in uniform could have a few minutes of comfort and a taste of home at Troy, Ohio. This is compassionate service at its best! The girls, their mothers and neighbors who met the trains put the needs of others ahead of their own for three long years when the future of this world was at stake. There is a lot to be said about that kind of commitment. It was volunteer, all for the benefit of total strangers. This is what America is all about! The proof of their positive impact lays in the hundreds of letters from appreciative soldiers, sailors and marines. Almost across the board at some point their letter concluded with an almost universal phrase, "because of you (or your efforts) we know what we are fighting for." It doesn’t get any more concise. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers knew what they were fighting for because of 40 girls at Troy, Ohio. Powerful stuff considering the girls will tell us they only did it because they were having fun and flirting with the cute boys in uniform.
In closing, many years ago the mother of a navy nurse wrote of track side canteen service: "My daughter said: 'All those women deserved a star in their crown.' "
To the ladies here and those who have passed on, Thank you and God Bless.
SECOND MARKER STONE DEDICATED MAY 28, 2007
The profound nature of the gestures made at the Junior Girls Canteen during WW II, prompted the three veterans organizations of Troy, Ohio to recognize the individual members of the canteen with a granite stone and bronze plaque in front of the historical marker. On May 28, 2007, ten of the canteen girls, plus author Scott Trostel were invited to be Grand Marshals of the Troy Memorial Day Parade. Following the parade and memorial festivities at Riverside Cemetery, a large crowd gathered at Herrlinger Park for a dedication ceremony. Frank Whidden read the invocation followed by brief words from Mayor Mike Beamish and an unveiling of the marker. There were plenty of photo opportunities then the group was invited to American Legion Post 43 for lunch.
The marker stone recognizing the individual members of Troy's Junior Canteen Girls, dedicated on May 28, 2007. It was provided by American Legion Post 43, VFW Post 5436, and Amvets Post 88.
Ten of Troy's Junior Canteen Girls are gathered around the marker and stone during the dedication May 28, 2007. From left to right they are Rosemary Deaton, Marlene Reid, Patricia Furrow, Helen Hawkins, Patty Beam, Mary Lee Clawson, Phyllis Gass, Mary Margaret Gray, Jackie Dierks and Doris Hislop.
Read selected letters from the soldiers who stopped at many of the canteens CLICK HERE
Scott D. Trostel
One of the most compelling books of humanitarianism ever!
Stories of many of the canteens and the
volunteers struggles to meet every soldier.
VISIT OTHER OHIO CANTEEN WEB PAGES JUST CLICK ON THE TOWN NAME:
Bellefontaine Crestline Dennison Lima Marion Springfield Troy
©Copyright 2007, Scott Trostel, All rights reserved