The United Service Organizations (USO) and the American Red Cross provided a variety of important services for servicemen and women during the war years. The war disrupted American society, and the USO and the Red Cross offered ways that civilians could contribute to the war effort. The USO, formed in 1940, included the YMCA, YWCA, Salvation Army, National Catholic Commission Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, and the National Travelers Aid Society. The USO operated mobile and stationary canteens, visited hospitals, and organized 428,521 live shows for troops stationed across the world. USO centers offered a variety of services, including lounges, snack bars, libraries, and overnight rooms. In Columbus the USO on Third Street served more than 36,000 servicemen in its first year. Cincinnati had one of the more active USO chapters in Ohio. Its Union Terminal location alone served more than three million troops during the war.

The Red Cross served understaffed hospitals, sent relief parcels to Gis, collected blood plasma, and operated a variety of activities to help the war effort. Ohio's 111 chapters donated almost 40 million hours and collected more than a million pints of blood plasma.

Frank Sinatra visits a USO in Milan, Italy, in June 1945. Servicemen also enjoyed performances by Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Joe E. Brown, and others. John Wayne was booed off the stage at an overseas appearance because he had managed to avoid the draft.

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