A Wild Night at the Red Cross Worker Station

Last updated on: April 22, 2013 at 1:01 am by marcusbrotherton

A Wild Night at the Red Cross Worker Station 2013-04-10T17:32:54-06:00 marcusbrotherton

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Last week I offered you a special glimpse inside the covers of VOICES OF THE PACIFIC, the new oral history project from New York Times bestselling author Adam Makos and me. Today is a bonus story that’s only available off my coauthor Adam Makos’s website, http://www.valorstudios.com/

Katharine Singeris the sister of Marine Sid Phillips. She was featured in Ken Burns’ project The War and provides the home front perspective.

Katharine Singer and Sid Phillips

I met Katharine a few years back and interviewed her extensively for VOICES. Listen to Katharine tell a great story about working in a Red Cross canteen in Mobile, Alabama, during the war years:

There was no shortage of things for girls to do for the war effort if they made any effort at all.

Down near the railroad station was a Red Cross canteen, and my friend Polly Barnett and I would take the bus down on Saturday evenings to work there. At the canteen we served donuts, sandwiches, and hot coffee to the troops as they came through Mobile on the trains. The Red Cross provided the basic foods but we fixed it all and served the boys.

The canteen was in a rough area of the city. Whenever we first arrived, members of the Shore Patrol would wait for us to walk us the three blocks from the train station down to the canteen because there were beer joints all along there—places where sailors hung out—and the Red Cross didn’t feel it was safe for us to walk through there alone.

The system worked like this: We got word whenever a troop-train was coming, and we’d pile food on trays, head outside, and walk along under the train’s windows, holding the trays above our heads. The soldiers and sailors and marines would reach out of the windows and take the food off the trays. They’d call out to us and talk to us and all.

Well, one night three of us went down there all prepared to serve this troop train. When we got there, we got the food and walked outside to the train. But instead of the boys reaching out of the windows and all, we heard this loud whoop and yelling. All the boys starting pouring off the train, running straight after us! It scared us absolutely to death.

I threw my sandwiches in the air and started running as fast as I could. My friend with the donuts did the same thing. But my friend Polly was carrying the coffee and couldn’t get rid of it as quickly. So I don’t know how many Marines surrounded her and began to kiss her. When she finally got away, and we all ran into the canteen, we closed and locked the door and hid under the counter. I have never been so frightened in my life.

We found out afterward that they were Marines that had been taken off Iwo Jima by ship and brought into New Orleans. We were the first American girls they had seen in a year, and they were determined. So it was a wild night, it really was.

Finally the Shore Patrol, the MPs, and their own officers got all the soldiers back on the train, and the train pulled out.

But we didn’t come out of the canteen for the rest of the night.

VOICES OF THE PACIFIC

By Adam Makos with Marcus Brotherton

Now available.

Ask for it at a bookstore near you, or order your copy HERE.

Parenting

Previous Post

April 17, 2013

Why traditional churches should stick with traditional worship

Next Post

April 23, 2013 Inspiring a Vision in Boys

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Giveaway Book Review Bullying Career Christmas Church devotion Discipleship Donald Miller Drugs & Alcohol Easter eternity evangelism Family food giving thanks God humor James H. Pence Jonathan McKee Leadership love Marcus Brotherton marriage masculinity men's ministry men's studies movies music Parenting Pastoring patriotism persecution pilgrim politics pop culture Prayer Prison Ministry prosperity religion Saul secularism sex Social Media Television Thanksgiving Uncategorized women Worship youth culture

Select a Month December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who did Jesus call out of the tomb after four days?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Jairus Mary Bartimaeus Lazarus