Political Quotes

“I rise today to recognize the service of the women of the American Red Cross Clubmobiles. These brave young Americans served our country with distinction overseas during the Second World War. During the War, the Red Cross was charged by the Armed Forces to provide for the recreational welfare of the troops. Wherever there was a sizable group of American servicemen permanently assigned, the Red Cross established canteens, which provided a bit of respite from training for war and were tremendously popular. But the canteens were fixed sites, and did not reach many of the combat troops garrisoned at small locations across the English countryside. In order to extend a taste of home to the troops, the Red Cross Commissioner for Great Britain, Harvey Gibson, thought up the idea of the ``Clubmobile,'' a mobile kitchen set up in an old London bus. In late 1942, several of these Clubmobiles began operating between dozens of bases around the country, serving coffee and doughnuts to those preparing for D-day. Shortly after the beachhead at Normandy was successfully secured, 80 Clubmobiles and 320 volunteers crossed the English Channel to begin operating their mobile kitchens near the front lines. Each Clubmobile group, consisting of eight two-and-a-half ton trucks named for an American city or State, was attached to an Army Corps and moved with the unit's support elements, often going forward to provide the troops with American music, hot coffee, and doughnuts.…”