This Day in History: 1945-07-21
The biggest all-night diner in the U.S. was said to be operating at Camp Shanks in Orangeburg as thousands of veterans of the European War were being received back in the States. Thirty cooks and 120 KPs keep the meals going ’round the clock. The biggest item on the menu is steaks since the first official Army menu proscribes a steak as the first meal a returning soldier gets when he returns stateside. The cooks prepare as many as 3,000 steaks for a single meal. Milk, ice cream, and french fried potatoes are the other favorites. When the latter were prepared, the usual complement of 35 pounds of potatoes per 100 men was routinely doubled. Captain Diviney, the assistant chief of the mess division inaugurated the steak meals in the summer of 1944. They proved so popular that they became official last February. (Bristow)