Connellsville's canteen operated from 1944 to 1946 at the town's Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station on the railroad's double-track main line, which hugs the bank of the Youghiogheny River. Connellsville is situated about midway between B & O division points at Cumberland, Md., and Pittsburgh on B & O's main route, between the national capital at Washington and Chicago. Military, freight, and scheduled passenger trains all stopped at Connellsville to change crews, engines, or both, giving a few minutes" pause at the station. During the stops, soldiers were met by canteen workers, on duty "round the clock, offering food. Over the course of the war, some 800 women volunteers served 600,000 members of the armed forces.

At the Connellsville, Pennsylvania canteen:

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June 1944.

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"Dear Ladies:"I wish to thank you for the splendid way you receive servicemen in your city. In traveling over a great portion of the eastern United States, yours is the only city to offer such service as meeting the trains with free food and refreshments. I am stationed in the south (Portsmouth, Virginia) which treats servicemen with little regard. I talked to several servicemen on the train and they said it was the first such treatment they had received. It is great work!"Thanking you again for the fine treatment received and hoping you will continue to do the good work."                  

                                  

Simon W. Benth,Seaman 2cU.S. Navy"

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"To Whom it May Concern:"

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"This is only a piece of paper but it carries with it a great amount of thanks and appreciation for the very kind manner in which you ladies treated us when our train, fortunately stopped in your city. It is things like what you are doing that brought to us boys a touch of home which we have missed so much. We left the Connellsville Canteen with our spirits greatly boosted.

"Please thank everyone who participated in helping to make such a worthwhile as yours. The best of luck from Headquarters Company, Third Battalion,253rd Infantry, 53rd Division."

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 "Signed

Pfc. Marvin E. Smith, Memphis, Tennessee

Pfc. A. J. Marttek, Detroit

Pfc. Hugh Morris, Bend, Oregon

Pfc. Albert E. McDevitt, Pennsylvania

Pfc. Paul E. Schatz, Greenfield, Mississippi

Pvt. Edward Barkdull, New Jersey

Pfc. Michael Polyak, Chicago

Pfc. August Disparti, Chicago

Pfc. Max Lipschutz, Philadelphia

Pfc. Albert Fosbrook, Philadelphia

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 Connellsville's canteen was typical of the community-sponsored canteens that sprang up at railroad towns far removed from big cities. Others well remembered by World War II veterans include the canteens at North Platte, Nebraska, which served six million servicemen and women from 1941 to 1946, and at Lima and Dennison, Ohio, the latter of which was operated by the Salvation Army. In Pennsylvania, the USO (United Service Organizations) set up lounges or canteens for members of the armed forces at major train stations, including the Broad Street, 30th Street, and North Philadelphia stations in Philadelphia; and the Pennsylvania Railroad stations at Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.