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Back to North Platte for Coffee and a Doughnut at the North Platte Canteen

About a week ago American Digest checked in on North Platte, Nebraska with the item In America: North Platte said yes. North Platte has always said yes.  Now AD reader Abigail Adams has found out a bit more about the history of this American town with a heart; a big heart beating now for over four generations.

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  • Eskyman July 30, 2018, 12:12 PM

    That was fine, but somehow I must’ve left a window open: got a lot of dust in my eyes watching it.

    Once we had an American culture, and I’m sure glad that I can still remember it, though I’ve never been to North Platte. Once we had a lot of places like it in many ways, but mostly they’re gone now.

    It’s a pity that we now have diversity where once we had Americans.

  • PA Cat July 30, 2018, 12:19 PM

    Thank you for that video/update, Gerard. And thank you to Abigail Adams for passing it on to you. Yeah, it’s misty in here too.

  • Soylent Green July 30, 2018, 1:22 PM

    I’ve been through North Platte a couple of times. It’s not much bigger than it was then… but it’s one huge railroad town with maintenance yards to the horizon. And pretty darn nice people. We’ll go back.

  • KMM July 30, 2018, 1:24 PM

    Terrific! Thanks Gerard and AA.

  • Rick July 30, 2018, 2:31 PM

    Most people don’t have the opportunity to show their generosity like the people of North Platte did as far ASI can Americans still step up exactly the same way today given the chance.
    Not quite the same but if this doesn’t get you the same way ……
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0l1c_Ll1_CE

  • Casey Klahn July 30, 2018, 4:00 PM

    Another good post, and Eskyman says it just right: we have diversity where we once had Americans. It’s a pity.

    I find my self wondering about my father and my father in law, who both criss-crossed the US in troop trains during the war. I know it doesn’t matter if they ever made it to North Platte, because I know there were other places just as kind, or perhaps nearly as kind. I remember when I was in the service, and if you happened upon certain gas stations (service stations) in the South, and you were in uniform, the owner would hand you a Coca Cola and say nothing else. Occasionally, a cashier will ask me if I’m a veteran (we’re kind of easy to spot even without distinctive hats or such), and will offer me a discount on my purchase.

    I didn’t do anything, BTW. The generation that my father belonged to paid it all forward, and I think probably for some time to come.

  • Terry July 30, 2018, 4:12 PM

    Rick. Thank you for that link. In 1969 I was stationed at Travis AFB in California. Every Thursday a C-141 landed and off loaded a bunch of aluminum containers. Within each of the containers was the body of an American Serviceman. Extremely sad memories of this haunt me to this day. And the phony government in DC is still in business.

  • Nancy L Parish July 30, 2018, 5:04 PM

    I remember North Platte. I was 11 when Japan attacked and we were suddenly IN the war. I am from Council Bluffs Iowa, not so far east of North Platte. Five of my older cousins were in the Navy. One was on the Oklahoma on December 7th. He crawled across the hawser to the ship moored there and was safe.

  • madtntaxpayer July 30, 2018, 7:30 PM

    The Navy should name a ship in honor of North Platte. The spirit of that city displayed at that time should live on.

  • Ray Van Dune July 30, 2018, 9:26 PM

    A number of years ago we found ourselves in McMinneville, Oregon just after the Spruce Goose was moved there and placed in a very attractive museum. We were short on cash and trying to avoid using our credit card, so we agreed Dad (me) would be the only one going in while Mom and two daughters would hang around in the lobby. This was long before there were any of the amenities that grace the site today – just a gravel parking lot and dirt. I think there were a few chairs in the lobby, but not much else.

    So I went to pay and the cashier asked if I was a veteran. When I said yes, she said “Veterans get free admission”. I said I would go check with my wife to see if then we could all afford to go in, and as I turned away she said “Their families are free, too.”

    So we all had a great time, but as we were leaving I noticed a sign on a floor stand that had not been there on the way in …or perhaps it had been turned around briefly by the cashier. It had the admission fees, including a nice discount for veterans, but it was not 100%, and no mention of families either! The cashier must have noticed on the way in how we were a bit concerned about cost, and made a “command decision”. As I walked back toward her to try to make things right, she shook her head vigorously and gestured with her eyes toward an older man at the other register. The Boss, obviously. I winked and mouthed “thank you” to her, and we left.

    Not a big deal, just a small kindness to a veteran that really touched me.

  • Barry from Victoria August 7, 2018, 7:39 PM

    My grandfather was from a town just north of North Platte. He homesteaded near Edmonton in 1913 but liked to go back every so often. I still have a lot of distant relatives in Nebraska. By the way, there was a ship, an oil tanker, in the Navy called the USS Platte, AO24. I know because I did a stint on it in the South China Sea in 1965. Thanks for the video, it’s a story I never heard before. The people in it look just like my people.