Vigo County Historical Society

USO active in Terre Haute

The USO--United Service Organizations, Inc.--a federation of six agencies (YMCA, National Catholic Community Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, YWCA, Salvation Army and National Travelers Aid Association) had the task from February 1941 to December 1947 of providing entertainment and a multitude of other services to service men and women in all theaters of World War II, except the combat zone in Europe.

USO operations included clubs on military bases, towns, mobile units, lounges in every state and USO camp shows.

Nationally, volunteers gave more than 191,000,000 hours, and in Vigo County 126,000 hours of service were given between February 1941 and July 1946. Twenty-one organizations and 530 persons were recognized. Mrs. Frank Crawford was honored for 5,000 hours of volunteer work for the local USO effort.

Two troops-in-transit lounges were located in Terre Haute. One was located in Union Depot. It opened on Armistice Day in 1942 and on November 1944, a larger room was turned over to the USO by the Pennsylvania Railroad Employees Association and the Pennsylvania Women’s Aid Organization. This new lounge could seat 60 and was equipped with a shower room and a bedroom with 20 cots.

The second troops-in-transit lounge was opened in January 1943 at Sixth and Cherry Streets in an unused service station. The owner, Mary Waterman donated the use of the building. It was dedicated to the memory of Lt. Col. Benjamin Wimer, a local veteran of the Spanish-American War, the Mexican War and World War I.

The lounges were eventually open 24 hours a day. Churches, patriotic groups, and school children provided coffee, cookies, doughnuts, snacks, books, magazines and games for enlisted men and women passing through Terre Haute.

Benjamin Blumberg was chairman of the Vigo County USO and Cassie Glossom was the first director of the lounges in Terre Haute. Grace Mann became the director in 1944.

Local USO hostesses were trained at the YWCA by Mildred Simmons and Grace DeVaney. Hostesses were told to "just be there." Don’t give advice and don talk too much."

Even after the war, the troops-in-transit lounges were kept in operation. The USO Camp Shows turned efforts to providing entertainment in veterans hospitals and homes following the war.

The Wimer Lounge at Sixth and Cherry closed in mid-January 1946 and the Union Depot lounge closed June 29, 1946.

The USO in Vigo County served more than 200,000 service men and women and their families during the war and post-war years.

The Vigo County Historical Society will present "On the Go With the USO" on July 8 at Shook Field House on the Rose Hulman Campus.