1. Short title This Act may be cited as the North Platte Canteen Congressional Gold Medal Act . 2. Findings The Congress finds the following: (1) Home-front volunteerism was integral to the victory of the United States during World War II. Numerous exemplars of patriotism emerged throughout the Midwest, galvanizing the rural United States and the rest of the country supporting the war effort. (2) The North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska, was one of the largest volunteer efforts of World War II. (3) Canteen services boosted morale in the United States by providing free, wholesome entertainment to troops traveling across the country. Approximately 120 community-based canteens operated in the United States during World War II. (4) The North Platte Canteen greeted and served food to approximately 6,000,000 U.S. troops traveling across the United States from December 25, 1941, to April 1, 1946. (5) On December 17, 1941, the residents of North Platte, Nebraska, received information that a train of Nebraska National Guardsmen would be traveling through North Platte en route to the West Coast of the United States. Although the train carried members of the Kansas National Guard, residents of the community welcomed the men from Kansas with food and other items as an appreciation for their service. (6) On December 18, 1941, Rae Wilson, of North Platte, proposed to her community the idea of establishing the North Platte Canteen so that residents could greet U.S. troops en route to serving the United States in the European Theater or the Pacific Theater. (7) 55,000 individuals, the majority of whom were women, from 125 communities in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas donated food and volunteered at the North Platte Canteen for approximately 5 years. (8) The North Platte Canteen provided hospitality to as many as 24 troop trains per day. During a 1-month period, the Canteen’s volunteers served over 40,000 homemade cookies, 30,000 hard-boiled eggs, 6,500 doughnuts, 4,000 loaves of bread, 3,000 pounds of meat, 450 pounds