Junior Girls Canteen 1943-1946

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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 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.

(Lower Plaque):

Canteen Girls

Mary Jane Attenweiler

Margaret Attenweiler

Eileen Burgin

Marilyn Chase

Nancy Chronaberry

Thelma Dohm

Patty Fox

Katherine Hartzell

Alice Hobbs

Jeannine Kendall