"It is an old saying that an army travels on its stomach. In my long Navy experience, I have found it equally true that fighting men also travel on their hearts. For the extra, home-like touches that hearten a man and lift up his spirits, the Navy looks to the Red Cross."

-Admiral Harold R. Stark, Commander
U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, World War II

One way the American Red Cross won the hearts of America's fighting men during World War II was through their stomachs. Of all the services the Red Cross provided the armed forces, the operation of canteens at home and clubs and clubmobiles overseas remains among the most memorable in the minds of America's World War II veterans. At a canteen or a club, a soldier or sailor could pause for a cup of coffee, a doughnut, and a bit of friendly conversation that offered him a familiar and reassuring connection with home. It also provided the Red Cross workers and volunteers the opportunity to be of service to their country and to lift their own spirits as they made a personal contribution to the war effort.

The Red Cross began operating canteens in World War I at a time when thousands of service personnel were traveling by train between their homes and camps and then to the ships that took them overseas. Faced with enormous challenges involving transportation and the movement of supplies, military authorities asked the Red Cross to assist in feeding the troops while they were in transit. To meet this need the Red Cross created its almost all-volunteer Canteen Service and opened food service facilities in train stations, on the docks, and in many other places where hungry troops gathered.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, suddenly brought the United States into World War II and the care of troops on the move presented a major problem once again. For a second time, the American Red Cross and its Canteen Service answered the military's call for assistance. Stateside, the Red Cross set up canteens again near military installations, at train stations, ports of embarkation, and, in increasing numbers, at military airfields. Canteen volunteers worked tirelessly securing donated and purchased supplies, preparing food and drinks, setting up facilities, and serving the troops. They also extended their services to the provision of snacks at the 35 wartime blood donor centers the Red Cross set up around the country to collect blood for the military.

A special need for canteen services arose in downtown Washington, DC, where the Women's Army and Navy Auxiliaries, in cooperation with the American Red Cross, operated a "day nursery" in the headquarters of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). "Our latest and most interesting venture . . ." as the DAR described it, provided child care for the children of working mothers. Opened in November 1942, as one of the first nurseries in Washington, it continued in operation for 2 years, operating 5½ days a week and every day the Red Cross Canteen Service was there to distribute fruit juices and hot meals to the children.

Another branch of the American Red Cross, Services to the Armed Forces (SAF), operated a Club Service which provided refreshments, accommodations, and comfort and recreational activities wherever American troops were located overseas. The Red Cross staffed and supplied permanent service clubs, traveling clubmobiles, and other recreational facilities that stretched literally around the world. At its peak, the Red Cross operated nearly 2,000 such facilities abroad, staffed by 5,000 Red Cross workers and approximately 140,000 mostly local volunteers.

These facilities had different looks depending on their locale and the services they offered. Some consisted of only a few tables placed in a temporary outdoor setting, stacked with trays of sandwiches and donuts, hot cups of coffee, and maybe a large "soda pop" cooler. More permanent service clubs ranged from large facilities in major cities, often former hotels, to small facilities in towns and villages in both the European and Pacific theaters of war. The large clubs offered not only meals and recreational activities but also overnight accommodations and such amenities as barbershops and laundries. Some also provided opportunities for sightseeing, taking tours of museums, castles and cathedrals, and attending shows at local theaters and movie houses. Smaller clubs, usually located in outlying areas close to American military camps, provided food and sometimes recreation but not overnight facilities. Many were called Donut Dugouts, while those serving sailors were known as Fleet Clubs, and airmen went to Aeroclubs.

In order to serve multiple sites, particularly in isolated areas, the Red Cross introduced Clubmobiles in Great Britain in 1942 and later deployed some to the continent. They were converted half-ton trucks and single-deck buses acquired from a former London bus company. They were equipped for making and serving coffee and doughnuts and for distributing newspapers, chewing gum, and other small items. Some were equipped with phonographs and loudspeakers to provide music for the troops. A few were outfitted with movie projectors and became known as Cinemobiles. Operated by three American Red Cross women and a local driver, they often visited several sites in a day, bringing refreshments, entertainment, and a touch of home to the troops in a foreign land.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower assessed the importance of the Red Cross to the military in an address to a joint session of congress in 1945: "The Red Cross, with its clubs for recreation, its coffee and doughnuts in the forward areas, its readiness to meet the needs of the well and help minister to the wounded-even more important, the devotion and warmhearted sympathy of the Red Cross girl! The Red Cross has often seemed to be the friendly hand of this nation, reaching across the sea to sustain its fighting men."

The American Red Cross World War II record is remarkable. Through its many services, including the canteens and clubs, the organization reached out to every air base, army camp, and naval station at home and overseas. More than 3,700 Red Cross chapters across the nation served as centers for activities that supported the war effort and closely associated the American Red Cross with the U.S. military. All Americans can look proudly upon this record of achievement.

To learn more about American Red Cross accomplishments during World War II, visit World War II Accomplishments of the American Red Cross.

To commemorate the Greatest Generation, you can host an American Red Cross Canteen party with historic authenticity. For "how to" instructions visit A Field Guide to Creating a World War II Red Cross Canteen (PDF).