Fischer Commemorates 80th Anniversary of the North Platte Canteen

Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) spoke on the Senate floor to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the North Platte Canteen. She also urged her colleagues to support her
North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act
. The bill would award the Congressional Gold Medal to the collective individuals and communities who volunteered or donated food and other items to the North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska, during World War II.
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Fischer’s Senate floor speech as prepared for delivery:
M. President,
Earlier this month — on April 1, 2026 — we marked the 80th anniversary of the end of the North Platte Canteen. Nebraskans know this story. Today, I rise to make sure the United States Senate knows it too.
During World War II, a small town in west-central Nebraska became famous across the country. In 1941, a few local women began bringing desserts to the soldiers stopping at North Platte's train station. That simple act of kindness grew into a waiting room filled with sandwiches, coffee, and cakes — all donated by volunteers from the surrounding communities.
From Christmas Day 1941 to April 1946, these Nebraskans met every single train that came through — with food and with friendship. Each day, up to 32 trains rolled in, carrying thousands of uniformed service members. As the war raged on, support poured in from communities across the region. In just one month, the Canteen received around 40,000 cookies, 30,000 hard-boiled eggs, 6,900 birthday cakes, and 2,800 pounds of sandwich meat.
Over the course of the war, more than 6 million soldiers passed through the canteen. The people of North Platte gave encouragement to our country's bravest — providing warmth and kindness to those headed to the front lines during one of the darkest periods in modern history. They gave our soldiers a small but meaningful taste of home and of hope.
I like to call it the origin of the saying: "Nebraska Nice."
The Lincoln County Historical Museum has preserved this history for decades, including letters written by soldiers who passed through the station. Those letters speak for themselves. Allow me to share two.
One soldier, writing from Fort Warren in Cheyenne, reached out to a young woman named Virginia Schlueter after meeting her at the station. He reminded her of who he was by recalling that he and his fellow Ohioans had borrowed her lipstick to write down her address — and he noted that in 1,400 miles of travel, North Platte was the only town that had done a single thing for them.
Another soldier, Lyle Parks of Bay City, Michigan, wrote that most of the journey had been monotonous flat country, broken only by that stop in North Platte. The town may not be large, he said, but the people there had big hearts — and what they were doing was making a real difference for the morale of the men.
Those words were written by men on their way to war who were inspired by a small Nebraska town that simply decided to show up.
The North Platte Canteen was a remarkable volunteer effort. More than 55,000 people — nearly all of them women — kept it running. Volunteers raised over $137,000, worth more than $2 million today. And I am proud to say that one of those women was my own mother, Florence Strobel.
As a young new teacher, my mom moved from Lincoln to North Platte to teach kindergarten during the fall of 1944, and she proudly served among the Canteen volunteers. She told wonderful stories of her time there greeting “the boys” on the troop trains and the wonderful volunteers she met at the train station. Her stories are part of why I am standing here today.
In honor of all of those 55,000 volunteers, I introduced the North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act — a bill that would award a collective Congressional Gold Medal to every individual and community who volunteered at or donated to the Canteen.
This is the highest honor Congress can bestow upon civilians. I am proud to have 53 cosponsors, and I ask my colleagues to join us as we work toward the 67 needed for passage.
Eighty years later, the North Platte Canteen still speaks to something essential about who we are as Americans — no fanfare, no orders, just neighbors deciding that the men and women heading to war deserved a warm meal, a kind word, and a piece of home.
M. President, I ask my colleagues to help us give these volunteers the place in American history they have long deserved.
Thank you, M. President. I yield the floor.