John Eisenhower, Historian and Ike's Son, Dies

AP via ABC News ^ | December 21, 2013 | Douglass K. Daniel

[EveningStar]

John S.D. Eisenhower, the son of a five-star general turned president who forged his own career in the U.S. Army and then chronicled the history of the American military in numerous books, died Saturday. He was 91.

[rdl6989]

His family went to Denison TX and failed in a business, if I recall correctly, and he was born at this time. The family went back to Abilene, Kansas shortly thereafter. I’ve toured the home there in Abilene. He and his wife Mamie are buried on the grounds there.

[PGR88]

I can remember my great grandfather, who theoretically could remember HIS grandfather, who dated from the eighteenth century.

My mother's uncle, as a boy, climbed a telegraph pole to watch Lincoln's funeral procession pass buy in Upstate NY.

[kiryandil]

His outstanding book, The Bitter Woods shed new light on the Battle of the Bulge which allowed a lot of brave men to finally be recognized for the courageous actions they performed during the battle. After his book came out, many historians realized that the actions along the "Northern Shoulder" of the Bulge was key to the Americans stopping the German attack.

Yes, great book (see my post #19). I'll have to check it for a mention of Lieutenant Lyle "Failboy" Bouck, who believed for a significant portion of his life that his command of his I&R infantry platoon was a failure, because his 18 men were only able to hold off and delay an entire German Panzer Army for a day.

Battle of Lanzerath Ridge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lanzerath_Ridge

Lyle Bouck
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Bouck

Lyle "Unbelievable Bad-ass" Bouck just turned 90.

[fhayek]

That’s just what I mean. American history spans just over the living memory of two or three lifetimes. It is just the twinkling of an eye compared to the totality of human existence. Maybe an anomaly. Great story. I love those kind of things. I read Bill James. He wrote in the nineties that there might still be people alive that saw Cap Anson play.

[boop]

I went to Johns Hopkins, where the library was the Milton Eisenhower (Ike's brother) collection.

It contained all of Ike's papers.

I was not a history buff at the time, but NOW I'd like to have a look at them.

Back then the papers were under lock and key.

I remember the door leading to the goods.

Wish I was more "curious".

I'll never get so close again.

[boop]

BTW, what ever happened to (Camp David) David Eisenhower?

Seems like EVERY election cycle we're treated to what ever Eisenhower grandchild "thinks" about the republican party.

And it's ALWAYS how "awful" the modern day republicans are.

[OKSooner]

"On this date in 1944 (69 years ago), the poor German bastards had been drawn into the 101st Airborne's clever Bastogne trap, and had them surrounded. "

True enough, one would suppose. What doesn't get much talk now is that on this date in 1944, the 28th Division, PA national guard, had already been pretty much destroyed in action while delaying the Nazi advance east of Bastogne.

If it hadn't been for the sacrifice made by the 28th and few other divisions against an entire German army corps, there wouldn't have been a Bastogne for the 101st to defend.

[cynwoody]

Thats funny. He was born in north texas.

And even funnier, despite having just won the biggest war in recorded history, Ike didn't have a birth certificate until it was an October surprise (Wednesday, October 1, 1952).

http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2010/100922/frontpage_Ike.html

[OKSooner]

Suggested reading on the opening days of The Bulge:

"To Save Bastogne", Robert Phillips:

http://www.amazon.com/Save-Bastogne-Robert-F-Phillips/dp/0812829077/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387698685&sr=1-1&keywords=to+save+bastogne

"Alamo in the Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible ", John C. McManus:

http://www.amazon.com/Alamo-Ardennes-American-Soldiers-Bastogne/dp/0471739057/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1387698783&sr=1-1&keywords=alamo+in+the+ardennes

[UnwashedPeasant]

"American history spans just over the living memory of two or three lifetimes."

Along those same lines, the last known "Civil War" widow died in 2008. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maudie_Hopkins

[FreedomPoster]

That’s the kind of obvious crap that Leftist history types stick in Wikipedia. Think about how much goes unnoticed.

[FreedomPoster]

Ignore my previous, I was thinking Ike, not son of Ike. This is why I try not to post before coffee.

[Coldwater Creek]

Ike was born in Dennison, Texas, not Kansas although his library is in Kansas.

[Old Yeller]

Ike was born in Denison, Texas but Abilene Kansas was his boyhood home until he went to West Point. He considered himself a Kansan.

[Old Yeller]

It contained all of Ike's papers.

Doubt that since the Eisenhower library is also in Abilene.

[Old Yeller]

In Abilene: Eisenhower Museum, Eisenhower Library, Boyhood home, Final resting place of Ike, Mamie, and an infant child. All in one location. Then over at the Abilene cemetery are the graves of his parents.

[Ditto]

It is possible that the reason he was never sent overseas during that war is because he was considered suspect by government—pacifism, German ancestry, etc.

Nothing to do with it. Early in the war, he was charged with organizing and training the US Army's first tank brigade which was located at Camp Colt, located on the Gettysburg battlefield. Ike was later given orders to go to France but the Armistice was signed before he got there.

[Prospero]

David Eisenhower

[Ditto]

Ike Eisenhower’s family were members of a pacifist sect; they moved from Penn. to Texas to avoid the civil war.

Not true. Ike's ancestors lived in Pennsylvania since the mid 1700's. Ike's father moved from Pennsylvania to Kansas in 1880. He was a college educated engineer and owned a General Store in Kansas, which went bankrupt. He moved to Texas in 1889 where Ike was born in 1890. The family returned to Kansas in 1892 when Ike was still a toddler.

[ErnBatavia]

As a kid in 1960, I attended the Boy Scout Jamboree in Colorado Springs, and still remember Ike’s drive-thru for all the lads. He was sitting atop the back seat of an open convertible like you might see in one of today’s parades down Main Street.