During WWII, as they had during The Great War, local Red Cross volunteers raised money for supplies and engaged in knitting and sewing services. 400 area women worked shifts in the Union Station canteen, handing out 120 bushels of apples, 120 cartons of cigarettes and 300 pounds of popcorn to troop train passengers each month.
One Christmas Day – with the assistance of other area citizens – they distributed 1,400 bags of food and gifts to a train filled with sailors.
Pictured are some of the American Red Cross volunteers who greeted all troop trains passing through town, providing food, drink, cigarettes, magazines and newspapers to the soldiers, sailors and airmen on board.
From left to right: Mary Kay Birch, Bess Knapp, Julia Strelitz, Betty Owens, Gladine Stephenson, Ida Royer, Helena Dutt, Jean Sutton, Mabel Owens, Marguerite Woods, Bonnie Miller, Unknown, and Dorothy Alber.
This photo, submitted by the Marion Red Cross, was taken at Marion’s Union Station in front of what is now the model railroad building.
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