Sgt. Nevins is having a newspaper read to him, and the death of Leslie Howard is one of the stories. The date on the paper is given as September 3, 1943. Leslie Howard actually died on June 1, 1943.
The locomotive pulling the train when Joe arrives home in Florida was not produced by American Locomotive Company until 1950, seven years after the actual event. Diesel locomotives were not used on local trains until after the war years.