(Editor’s note: The following article is adapted and re-written from an article in the June 1943 issue of the Penn State Alumni News.)
In 1943, during the early days of World War II, a weary soldier on his first leave after a year in the Army, ran out of funds in Tyrone. The people who he encountered on the streets appeared friendly, but nevertheless, home was still 200 miles away. The soldier was hungry. Night was coming. Then, as we wandered dispiritedly down Pennsylvania Avenue, he saw a large sign. It read; Warings-Tyrone Canteen.
The soldier walked through the door of the then DeFerie Building at 976 Pennsylvania Avenue. His troubles were first! He told his story to a motherly looking lady who had smiled a greeting as he entered. He was given a meal, took a shower, and then came back into the main lounge room and relaxed in a comfortable davenport. He picked up a magazine, and then dozed off. He later entered the sleeping quarters, and in five minutes was sound asleep on a soft bed.
The next morning he was awakened, given a hot breakfast, and told that his train was leaving in a half hour. He was handed a ticket and enough money to buy meals that day. In the evening he was home.
But before he left the Canteen that morning, he sat down at a desk and leafed through a large book. More than 500 soldiers and sailors had leafed through before him and had signed their names. After their signatures, most had tried, boyishly and awkwardly, to express their appreciation for the things that had been done for them during their stay in Tyrone.
This soldier, on this morning, signed his name, too. Then he paused; gratitude was in his heart, but no words he knew could adequately express his feelings. After a moment, he wrote: “We’ll win the war for people like you.”
It all started when Earl Rothrock, a well-known Tyrone businessman, was visiting his friend, Fred Waring, in New York City. They discussed the plight of stranded servicemen. Fred told him about the canteen in New York City and that he and his brother, Tom, had opened for service personnel in 1942. Earl then related how so many uniformed men came through Tyrone, “The hub of the highways” in Central Pennsylvania, at all hours trying to find transportation to their hometown. With gasoline rationing in effect at that time, they had difficulty in getting rides home. While waiting for a train or bus, some servicemen paced the streets all night and some slept in the police station.
As the discussion continued, the idea of a canteen in Tyrone came up. Fred said he would offer his financial aid if Earl could stimulate interest in the good citizens of Tyrone. After returning home, Rothrock called an open meeting. Although there were a few skeptics, patriotic and enthusiastic citizens offered to help.
A committee of three was appointed and quickly fifty Tyroneans pledged five dollars per month, and just as fast, Fred Waring contributed $250. That was plenty to get started, and on April 6, 1943, the first soldier signed his name to the register. He was Charles Vogt, of East 10th Street., Tyrone, a member of the 359th Infantry at Camp Barkeley, Texas. He subsequently died in action. Other contributions poured in from townspeople along with another $250 check from Fred.
To “keep them comfortable and get them home” had been the aims of the Canteen. Hostesses were employed for eight hours shifts, both day and night. Tyrone policemen as well as state troopers were extremely cooperative, especially with getting the boys on their way as quickly as possible. Often policemen went out on the highway to stop a motorist to see if he would agree to go miles past his destination to get the soldier home. When policemen were needed for this purpose, a hostess flashed a red light outside of the Canteen.
The Canteen was located in the DeFerie building, in the first block from the Pennsylvania Railroad Station. It was an ideal site because all the buses stopped directly in front of the door. Its attractive food bar offered free refreshments and coffee prepared by hometown cooks. A homey atmosphere in the lounge was highlighted by reading lamps and flowers. There was also a piano and a jukebox. Incidentally, the only way a serviceman could even spend a cent during his stay was by playing the jukebox.
Mrs. Marjorie Rothrock published the Tyrone-Waring Canteen News, a monthly newsletter that sold for ten cents. Four thousand copies were printed each month, 1400 of which were mailed free to all Tyrone service personnel all over the world. The newsletter regularly featured the “Soldier of the month”, deaths of Tyrone servicemen, holiday events, marriages, births, sports coverage, donations of food and money, registrations and jokes.
Recently there as been talk of re-printing copies of the Canteen News into book form to offer to the public.
The Tyrone-Waring Canteen formally opened in April 1943 and closed in July 1946, having served more than 78,000 servicemen. Registrations in the book listed servicemen from over a hundred Pennsylvania towns, thirty-nine states, and the District of Columbia.
