America’s history is filled with many fascinating yet little known stories of those who have served our nation in times of war. The brave women of the clubmobiles, who served our country with distinction overseas during World War II, tell one such story.

During the War, the American Red Cross was charged by the Armed Forces to provide for the recreational welfare of U.S. troops serving in Great Britain.

Wherever there was a sizable group of American servicemen permanently assigned, the Red Cross established canteens, which provided a bit of respite from training for war and were tremendously popular. But the canteens were fixed sites, and didn’t reach many of the combat troops garrisoned at small locations across the English countryside.

In order to extend a taste of home to the troops, the Red Cross thought up the idea of a “clubmobile,” a mobile kitchen set up in an old London bus. In late 1942, several of these clubmobiles began operating between dozens of bases around the country, serving coffee and doughnuts to those preparing for D-Day.

Shortly after the beachhead at Normandy was successfully secured, 80 clubmobiles and 320 volunteers crossed the English Channel to begin operating their mobile kitchens near the front lines.

Each clubmobile group, consisting of eight 2.5-ton trucks named for an American city or state, was attached to an Army Corps and moved with the unit’s support elements, often going forward to provide the troops with American music, hot coffee and doughnuts.

Like every soldier, the clubmobile women were in “for the duration.” By War’s end, the clubmobiles were operating all across Europe, from southern Italy to northern Germany, and in the Far East from the jungles of Burma to the shores of Tokyo Bay.

A visit from a clubmobile was one of the most significant events for a young G.I. in combat far from home, and the women of the clubmobiles, young women from every single state, were a welcome sight indeed.

These women were trailblazers, every bit as much as the Navy’s Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, the Women’s Army Corps and the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

They were young, independent, and patriotic. They joined for a variety of reasons, some to serve as close to combat as they were then allowed, some to honor the sacrifices of their own fathers, brothers or friends, and some for adventure. Every one of them was dedicated to their country, and volunteered for the clubmobiles rather than an easier or safer job at home.

The dangers of war were real. During the war, 52 Red Cross women lost their lives, some of them from the clubmobiles. Their stories are those of a nation at war.

Elizabeth Richardson joined the Red Cross in 1944 after graduating from Milwaukee-Downer College and after a brief career in advertising. She helped pilot the clubmobile named Kansas City throughout England, Holland and France, listening to soldiers’ stories while cracking jokes and sharing her own.

Two months after V-E Day, Richardson’s plane crashed en route to Paris. Richardson, dead at 27, now lies interred at the Normandy American Cemetery. Before she died, she said about her service, “I wouldn’t trade this for anything else.”

Those sentiments are shared by Margaret “Margo” Hemingway Harrington of Rye, N.H. Harrington, who has family that lives here in Maine, is one of the few surviving clubmobile women. “I just got itchy feet,” she said, “and thought I should be doing something more.”

The women of the clubmobiles touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of U.S. servicemen. The Red Cross alone purchased enough flour to make 1.5 million doughnuts, most of which were served through the windows of a clubmobile.

To honor their memory, 70 years after they were established, the U.S. Senate recently unanimously passed a resolution that I introduced along with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) which commends the exemplary and courageous service of the clubmobiles, honors those that lost their lives, calls upon historians to not let this important piece of American history be lost and urges the Red Cross to publically commemorate their stories.

Honoring them now is critically important, because only a very few of these women are still alive.

Their stories are as vibrant and important to our victory as those of the men who valiantly fought to defend our freedom. It’s important to ensure their story continues to be told so that this important piece of U.S. history lives on forever