The Lima Chapter of the American Women's Voluntary Services Organization established a community-based free canteen during World War II for troops traveling on the Pennsylvania Railroad and adjacent Baltimore and Ohio-Nickel Plate Railroads. Meeting as many as forty trains a day, the ladies served 2.5 million troops between 1942 and 1945. Food, coffee, and other items were donated from a twelve county area. The AWVS disbanded in 1945, but succeeding volunteers continued the service throughout the Korean Conflict and Viet Nam War. Lima's Servicemen's Free Canteen was the longest continuously operated service canteen in the United States, and an estimated four million soldiers, sailors, and marines were served between 1942 and 1970.