{"id":5085,"date":"2012-12-18T08:10:06","date_gmt":"2012-12-18T12:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=5085"},"modified":"2012-12-18T08:23:24","modified_gmt":"2012-12-18T12:23:24","slug":"npr-wwii-canteen-girl-kept-troops-company-from-afar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/npr-wwii-canteen-girl-kept-troops-company-from-afar\/","title":{"rendered":"NPR: WWII ‘Canteen Girl’ Kept Troops Company From Afar"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Photo

(Photo source: NPR)<\/p><\/div>\n

Long before the Internet and satellite phone, Phyllis Jeanne Creore Westerman brought soldiers home at Christmas via shortwave radio:<\/p>\n

(Source: National Public Radio<\/a>)<\/p>\n

American service members have long spent holidays in dangerous places, far from family. These days, home is a video chat or Skype call away. But during World War II, packages, letters and radio programs bridged the lonely gaps. For 15 minutes every week, “Canteen Girl” Phyllis Jeanne Creore spoke and sang to the troops and their loved ones on NBC radio.<\/p>\n

Her Christmas shows were morale boosters. America must “use more sentiment and less tinsel, and that’s the way it should be,” she told her listeners during one wartime Christmas broadcast. Now 96, Phyllis Jeanne Creore Westerman sits in her apartment on New York’s Fifth Avenue, remembering those seasonal broadcasts she recorded 70 years ago.<\/p>\n

[…]She did a bit of radio work, found singing jobs with various bands at hotels like the Biltmore, and volunteered at the Stage Door Canteen. That’s where she got the idea for a regular radio show \u2014 to reach more troops \u2014 across the U.S., and in Europe by short wave.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the full article and listen to Susan Stamberg’s interview on NPR.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Long before the Internet and satellite phone, Phyllis Jeanne Creore Westerman brought soldiers home at Christmas via shortwave radio: (Source: National Public Radio) American service members have long spent holidays in dangerous places, far from family. These days, home is a video chat or Skype call away. But during World War II, packages, letters and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[56,442,3,305,43],"tags":[274,20,1536,1537],"class_list":["post-5085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-broadcasters","category-music","category-news","category-nostalgia","category-shortwave-radio","tag-national-public-radio","tag-npr","tag-phyllis-jeanne-creore-westerman","tag-susan-stamberg"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-1k1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5095,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2012\/12\/pirate-radio-recordings-radio-casablanca\/","url_meta":{"origin":5085,"position":0},"title":"Pirate Radio Recordings: Radio Casablanca","author":"Thomas","date":"December 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"On Sunday, December 17th, around 22:00 UTC, I happened to pick up the last\u00a0thirty\u00a0minutes of Radio Casablanca; a pirate that plays a nostalgic mix of music from the 1930's and 1940's. They were broadcasting on 6939 kHz in AM. Close your eyes, and you can imagine what it must have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Casablanca","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Casablanca-300x228.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9461,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/i-listen-to-npr-on-my-shortwave-radio\/","url_meta":{"origin":5085,"position":1},"title":"“I listen to NPR…on my shortwave radio”","author":"Thomas","date":"June 10, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year, National Public Radio (NPR) asked listeners when and how they listen to NPR. Their goal\u00a0was to put together clips into\u00a0a short spot for the network's\u00a0spring fund drive. After telling them that I've been known to listen to NPR on shortwave, they asked for me to record a short\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Broadcasters"","block_context":{"text":"Broadcasters","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/broadcasters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"npr_logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/npr_logo.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":33730,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/interview-with-scott-simon-of-npr-via-radio-canada-cbc-studios\/","url_meta":{"origin":5085,"position":2},"title":"Interview with Scott Simon of NPR regarding potential time station shutdowns","author":"Thomas","date":"August 25, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi, folks!\u00a0 If you just heard me on\u00a0 NPR's Weekend Edition regarding the NIST Budget cuts to WWV, WWVH, and WWVB,\u00a0welcome, and stick around! This is where the\u00a0SWLing Post (and other projects we work on, such as the Shortwave Archive, the Radio Spectrum Archive, and the non-profit, Ears to Our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interviews"","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Radio-Canada-CBC-Quebec-City-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Radio-Canada-CBC-Quebec-City-5.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Radio-Canada-CBC-Quebec-City-5.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Radio-Canada-CBC-Quebec-City-5.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":781,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/npr-explores-numbers-stations\/","url_meta":{"origin":5085,"position":3},"title":"NPR Explores Numbers Stations","author":"Thomas","date":"July 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend, NPR's Guy Raz interviewed\u00a0Mark Stout, the official historian at the International Spy Museum. Their topic? Numbers stations. Click hear to go to NPR's webpage, listen and\/or read the full transcript. You can also download an MP3 audio file of the report by clicking here. For even more numbers\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/npr_logo.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22917,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/npr-almost-certainly-the-tiniest-radio-receiver-in-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":5085,"position":4},"title":"NPR: “almost certainly, the tiniest radio receiver in the world”","author":"Thomas","date":"December 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: NPR) Physicists at Harvard have built a radio receiver out of building blocks the size of two atoms. It is, almost certainly, the tiniest radio receiver in the world. And since it's a radio, it can play whatever you want to send its way, including Christmas music, as this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "FM"","block_context":{"text":"FM","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/fm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Tiny-Radio-Harvard.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Tiny-Radio-Harvard.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Tiny-Radio-Harvard.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1103,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2011\/05\/npr-brings-amateur-radio-spectrum-threats-to-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":5085,"position":5},"title":"NPR brings amateur radio spectrum threats to light","author":"Thomas","date":"May 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"(Source: National Public Radio) Across Alabama, emergency communications systems fell silent this week when tornadoes knocked down antennas and cell phone towers. Amateur radio operators are helping to restore emergency communication in some of the areas hardest hit by the storms. But those volunteers say their ability to provide that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/When-all-else-fails-logo-25.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}