Bob Greene (2) (1947–)

This was a very moving and loving story, part memoir, part tribute, by Greene, about his closest friendship. Bob and Jack met when they were in kindergarten and remained close throughout their lives. Now in their late fifties/early sixties, Bob and the rest of their group of 5 buddies rally round to support and embrace Jack after his cancer diagnosis and help him walk his final road with dignity, laughter and love. The memories recalled throughout the book resonate - none are remarkable but show more in many ways, that is precisely what is wondrous; the ordinary lives of ordinary kids growing up in a small town is something that probably every one of us can relate to on some level. What stands out for Jack, Bob and their friends, the experiences they shared, individually or together, the experiences that touched them and impacted them, are things that made me smile in recognition. Often.

I don't know how many of us are lucky or blessed to have such loyal and loving friends throughout our lives. Jack's death was made easier in the way it ought to be: embraced, surrounded by the people who matter most in life. show less

Once Upon a Town, The Story of the North Platte Canteen, by Bob Greene (pp 257). Don’t read this book if you fear tears welling up in your eyes at various points. This was a bestselling book when published, and it deserves to be in every high school mandatory reading list. The town of Platte River is about six and a half hours drive from Denver (where I live), and probably triple that during WWII when there were no interstate highways, and cars ran at much lower speeds on local roads. In show more this day and age, it’s a world away. At the advent of the war, Platte River residents began giving away food, refreshments, magazines, and smiles (and occasional hugs) to military members traveling across country. Everything was free to the troops during ten to twenty minutes stops for refueling the trains. Over the course of the war, six million troops came through town. And every one was offered the town’s hospitality. The town itself sported only 12,000 residents, some of whom were themselves off to fight. People from 125 towns, some as far away as Colorado, but most from rural Nebraska donated sugar, chickens, pheasant, beef, milk, eggs, cookies, cakes, apples, oranges, magazines. newspapers, bread, themselves and so much more. Few of us alive can understand what this sacrifice, given that wartime rationing limited what people could buy for their own use, let alone to give away. Thousands of women from surrounding towns donated their time to meet every train that came through morning, noon, or night. The military men and smaller numbers of women were treated as if they were sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters of the caring townspeople. They continued this effort until eight months after the war and returning veteran numbers dwindled. The author spent considerable time in Platte River, researching this story, talking to nearly everyone who had a related tale to tell. He even tracked down dozens of veterans living all over the country who retained vivid memories of their ten or twenty minutes in the Canteen. Almost to a person, these seventy, eighty, and ninety year old veterans broke down crying while relating their interactions with the amazing people who were there for them. The impact of their 20 minute acts of kindness stayed with men and women who later fought on Utah Beach, Saipan, and other far flung battlefields. A goodly number of the military members and young women volunteers stayed in touch throughout the war and eventually married. They connected via names and addresses stuck inside popcorn balls, on cards tucked into birthday cakes (every train got one or more, regardless of whether any of the troops had a birthday), and other more conventional means. The town received no funding from the government: it was all donated by philanthropic minded citizens. No other town in America did what Platte River did, and they did it every day for over four years. It’d be nice to say this typified rural wartime America in the 1940s, but even then it was extraordinarily exceptional. This is a wonderful story about thousands of real life hometown heroes doing what they could for young men and women heading off to war. show less

Duty: A Father, His Son and the Man Who Won the War follows columnist Bob Greene as he visits his father in the last months of his life, at the same time starting a friendship with Paul Tibbets, the pilot that flew the Enola Gay to Hiroshima. Greene reflects on the similarities between the two men from the World War II era and how they differ from the younger generations.

The problems that exist with this book are certainly not with the story. It is one that is not told nearly enough. The show more basics of the first atomic bomb drop are widely known, but the operations leading up to it and the lives of the men who carried it out are in danger of being forgotten. The story of Greene's own father, who served in North Africa and Italy, is also compelling, although more common. The book is at its best when these men are allowed to tell their story in their own words, which are simple and pithy at once.

The problems lie in Greene's narration. It too often takes on a tone of self-conscious humility which does not ring true. This alternates with a jarring disconnect between the character descriptions and the stories used to illustrate them. More than once Greene is supposedly demonstrating some endearing part of the men's nature, such as their sense of humor, with a story that comes off as being simply mean. It's unclear whether Greene is being overly-reverent and therefore failing to see this behavior as malicious or if he is simply failing to accurately portray his subjects. Finally, the book is at times painfully redundant. In the final chapters it seems every question he asks Tibbets is at most a subtle variation of one covered at least once elsewhere in the book. Surprising character revelations cease about two-thirds of the way through.

Duty is a worthy read for anyone who feels a gap in knowledge of World War II history, particularly about the combat end of the atomic bomb project, but I found it lacking in the emotional payoff that would seem inevitable. show less

5677 Once Upon a Town The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen, by Bob Greene (read 16 Feb 2020)This book, published in 2002, and written by a newspaper columnist who was born in 1947, tells of the canteen in North Platte, Nebraska which from December 1941 till April 1, 1946 met every troop train which came to North Platte,and offered free food and things to the servicemen on the trains. According to the book thousands of servicemen came through North Platte and they all went gaga over how show more kind the people at the canteen treated them. It is a schmaltzy book, repeating often the words of praise which the recipients of the generosity of the people who operated the canteen spoke of their benefactors, long after the war. One gets the idea of the goodness of the people and the gratitude of the servicemen long before the book ends. I was impressed by what the people of that area of Nebraska accomplished and at times found the book poignant. But I think a more restrained account might have more compelling. show less