From the studios of Ave Maria radio in Ann Arbor,
this is veterans radio and now here's your host
Dale Throneberry Good morning and welcome to
veterans radio My name is Dale Throneberry and
I'll be your host this morning and joining me
in the studio is my cohort in crime Bob Gould.
Good morning, Bob Oh boy. Oh boy. He's ready
to go. It's early in the morning here on the
west coast or even more or less awake than we
are. That opened their eyes. Well, it opened
mine. Thank you very much. I needed that. That
could have been the onion bagel, too. Anyway,
today we're really excited about the program
that I've got going on today. We're going to
be talking about Dwight Eisenhower, one of my
personal heroes, and we've got an author of a
new biography. John Wolkovitz is going to be
on, and also we've got Dan Holt, who is the director
of the Eisenhower Library and Museum. We'll be
on in a little while. And we're going to be talking
about Ike. And everybody liked Ike when we were
growing up, and all of us that are in this studio.
That was a great slogan, wasn't it? Well, it
worked. It's funny, I sent out the flyer for
the program. I got an email from a veteran from
Jackson. And he said that, you know, I met Ike
in 1952 when he was campaigning in Jackson. And
he says, my wife, current wife, she shook hands
with him. And they were so excited by that because
he said he was six or seven years old. And he
said he had a little pin at the time that you
would press and it would say, you know, you'd
press it and go, I like Ike. And it was very
effective. I think that was the first presidential
campaign that had real marketing uh... with the
uh... with the emphasis on uh... i like i can
tell you that i mean actually have a theme was
one of the first ones with slogans but i mean
you go back to you can go back almost all right
right right little pin but this was a bit of
they had television they didn't have it back
in the forties Eisenhower was the first real
TV president. I mean, you know, and all the photography
and this stuff of Stevenson with the shoe with
the hole in it and all these other things that
were out there at the time. Oh, that wasn't contrived,
of course not. Oh, no, no, no, no. I didn't say
that. He was on the road all the time. But anyway,
so we're going to be having John and Dan. Dan
will be on in about five or six minutes. But
first, we're going to go to the news. And Bob,
it's all in your court. Thank you, Dale. Welcome
to Veterans Radio News. The VA is searching for
lost soldiers from World War I, with only four
living American veterans of World War I currently
known. The Department of Veterans Affairs, of
course, that's the VA, is seeking public assistance
in determining whether others are still around,
still alive. To qualify as a World War I veteran,
someone must have been on active duty between
April 6, 1917, and November 11, 19... 18 if you
happen to know of someone or even think of someone
that might be that have them contact the local
VA In fact, they just had they the oldest living
woman veteran just died from World War one I
believe she was 108 and They didn't even really
know she was a veteran of World War one up until
just shortly before she died So was she in the
army? She was a whack. Oh, okay, you know ambulance
driver, right? Right. Yeah, okay An organization
provides troops prepaid calling cards. TNT announced
last week that it's providing the non -profit
organization Cell Phones for Soldiers with 10
,000 prepaid calling cards. That's valued at
nearly $270 ,000. For those who would like to
donate a cell phone, This company has designated
singular stores in all cities as drop -off points
or for more information at singular stores. If
you have a cell phone that you want to donate,
contact the singular cellular phone company.
The group collects cell phones for soldiers and
recycles them for cash. The cash is then used
to buy prepaid calling cards for servicemen.
What a great, that's terrific. Right, so that
they can call home. Right, exactly. That's great
that they're able to call home. Call home, mm
-hmm. That keeps morale up. Indiana license plates,
aids, troops, families. The state of Indiana
has delivered its first payment to the new Indiana
Military Family Relief Fund. Fund makes two thousand
dollar grants available to eligible families
of Indiana soldiers who have been called to active
duty. Grants are financed by the sale of two
specialty license plates. That's 20 bucks for
each one. I believe that's in lieu of the regular
rights, like a little... And it says on there,
support our troops. And there is another one
for $15 called Hoosier Veteran. Those are tags
that are going on their license plates. Hoosier.
What did I say? Hoosier. Well, I'm not from there.
Who's from Indiana? I'm from Michigan. Yeah,
right. We say what? Okay. One requirement for
the award is that servicemen must have suffered
a loss in pay, have incurred a significant increase
in the necessities of daily living, or have suffered
a significant emergency that warrants financial
assistance. Real quick, the Predator drone is
phased out for a new well -armed craft. What
do you know about that, Dale? Right, yeah, the
Predator that everybody knows is... being used
in Afghanistan and Iraq right now is not necessarily
being phased out, but there's a new additional
member of the family and it's called the Reaper.
And the Reaper can fly higher, faster, longer,
and it can carry a 3 ,000 pound payload. And
so, you know, there's an issue. I think it has
Hell Flyer missiles on it too. I don't know,
but we'll find out next time. Now we're going
to go into our Welcome Home segment. Okay, welcome
home each week on veterans radio We welcome home
servicemen and women who have been stationed
around the world in the service of our country
Welcome home segment is sponsored by the marine
scholars program of Ave Maria University You
can visit them online at Ave Maria dot edu or
call Aaron Flatterty Flaherty, yeah, that's a
good Irish name assistant director of admissions
at 239 280 239 -280 -2552. Soldiers from the
Alpha 163rd Support Battalion of the 218th Enhanced
Separate Brigade National Guard Unit returned
home from training at the Waterboro National
Guard Armory in Waterboro, South Carolina. They
will be deployed to Afghanistan. Nearly a hundred
friends and family welcomed home Army soldier
Travis Frayburn in Saugus, California last Saturday.
He sustained a concussion from a roadside bomb
near Mosul, Iraq. Bless you, Travis. A welcome
home warrior citizen program was held for 51
Army Reserve officers and soldiers on April 14
in Conroe, Texas. A solemn note, there was a
ceremony held on Wednesday, April 18th at CFB
Trenton, Ontario, Canada. As the remains of six
soldiers are returned home, the men were killed
when a roadside bomb struck the vehicle west
of Kandahar. We at Veterans Radio salute our
fallen brothers that are from our northern neighbor.
That's it. Thank you very much. You're welcome.
And we'll be back right after these messages.
And we are back on Veterans Radio and we're going
to be talking with our guests here in just a
moment, the author of Eisenhower, a biography,
part of the Great General series, and that's
John Wolkovitz. The forward is done by General
Wesley Clark. And I'm hoping that John is on
the line. And John, welcome to Veterans Radio.
No, he's not in the line right this second. So
we'll just talk about Ike a little bit. Let's
talk about Ike All right. Well, he had to be
a politician first Before he was a general he
had to prove that he could that he could work
with politics that that really what this was
all about I think the issue yeah, well because
there was so many egos and Okay. Now we've got
John. Oh, we do. Okay, and John walk of its welcome
to veterans radio Not yet John Okay We'll keep
on going here and all they're pressing buttons
all over the place in there in the control room
So we'll be we'll talking with John in just a
moment. I hope John you there I Don't hear John
But well, you know meantime Eisenhower had to
be the man of the hour Well, he had to, based
on the timing of everything. I mean, he was born
out in the middle of Kansas. Actually born in
Texas. You couldn't have wrote a better description
of an American hero. Midwest values? Well, the
thing that I've always found interesting about
Eisenhower was that he wasn't the most intelligent
person out there, as far as military was concerned.
He spent a lot of time being an underling to
famous people. I mean, like MacArthur and Marshall
and some of the other generals that were there.
And when he went to West Point, the only reason
he went to West Point was because it was free,
and his only opportunity he had to go to college.
Plus, at that point, West Point was a big football
school, and he was a big football player, a big,
excellent athlete in all sports. And so he went
there, but I think it was the first week or two
at West Point, he blew his knee out. And so he
was done. And he didn't graduate at the top of
his class and he didn't graduate at the bottom
of his class. He was just, you know, one of the
things about Eisenhower that I've always admired
was that he seemed like a grandfather to our
generation. And he seemed like just a good old
boy. And he worked hard. He stayed in the military
during, after World War I. He didn't get to go
to... Combat in World War one. He was a trainer
and an organizer and logistics and all those
other things and those were his real skills I
think that's why he was picked for a normal.
I think eventually he was Can we try now? Okay,
Johnny there? It's anybody there Yeah, Dan still
here. Hi, Dan. I'll talk to you then while we're
waiting for the other call. How are you Dan?
All right Right now we're talking with Dan Holt
who is the director of the Eisenhower Library
and Museum out in where are you? Abilene, Kansas.
You're in Abilene, Kansas. That's right. I've
been there. Yes. Actually, you know, Abilene,
Texas is named for Abilene, Kansas. Well, you
know, somebody had to go through Kansas to get
to Texas, I guess. That's right. Well, I want
to welcome you to Veterans Radio, and I apologize
for the technical problems, but we'll get those
squared away. What can you tell me about it?
You heard us talking probably a little bit about
what we know. Well, I didn't hear very much I
think it's important with Eisenhower and everybody
overlooks that you have to stutter the interwar
years, right? We were World War one of World
War two. That's that's because actually Eisenhower
When he was with the assistant secretary of war
the chief of staff in the Philippines is the
most important formative period of his career
You know things like he was already writing about
the military industrial complex in 1930 All right,
yeah, I do understand. The War Policies Commission.
That plus he was involved with the groups, quote
unquote, within the military that was rewriting
the structure of the military, especially in
mobilization in case of war and the outlooks
on training. And Eisenhower was what some people
now classify as the... intelligentsia in that
time period because people were just training
for exercises, not training for real war. Eisenhower
understood that, but the Philippines is the most
important period pre -World War II. You know,
he had to build an army from scratch. The administration,
Roosevelt administration, really didn't care
if we got a defense force built in the Philippines.
And he was sitting out there with a very difficult
MacArthur. and having to beg for arms, ammunition.
He was responsible for everything. He even designed
the barracks. He wrote all the military laws
for the Philippine Army with one assistant. And
it's a remarkable, remarkable job he did. It's
just too often overlooked. Yeah, I think that's
very important. Joining us on the line right
now, hopefully, is John Wolkovitz. John, are
you there? Yes, I am. Good morning. Hi John,
welcome to veterans radio and thank you for having
me on it's it's our pleasure and as you can hear
We're kind of starting to talk a little bit about
Eisenhower with with Dan Holt director of the
Eisenhower Library and Museum I don't know if
you know each know each other, but good morning
to both of you. Oh good morning So John tell
me I didn't get a chance to do my formal introduction
of you But you are a very very prolific writer
and not only is military history one of your
hobbies, but also sports Western heroes Everything
that I like I got to meet you in person. Yeah,
it's it's been fun You know I started out my
writing career doing magazine articles newspaper
articles kinds of things So you get into all
sorts of topics I grew up loving golf and so
I still do a little bit of golf writing But the
the focus is now World War two. I've loved reading
and writing about World War II. Reading it since
the time I was probably fifth or sixth grade,
I picked up a book on the battle of the Coral
Sea. And so my focus is 98 % on World War II.
And thus I have the books on the battles of Wake
Island and Tarawa and Eisenhower and Admiral
Clifton's break. I saw that. I was going to ask
you how you got involved with the Eisenhower
or actually the Great General series. Well the
publisher contacted me because they'd seen some
of my other books and just asked if I'd be interested
in writing one and I said sure. It's not every
day that a publisher comes calling and I heard
who was involved in it with General Wesley Clark
and some of the other authors and I thought Well,
this is a neat little series. By little, I mean
the size of the books, or maybe half the size
of my normal World War II books, which are maybe
300 pages. Eisenhower's 150 to 200 pages. And
they wanted us, instead of going through Eisenhower's
career in an extensive fashion, they wanted us
to focus on just his military career and to draw
lessons in leadership. that anybody could use,
you know, how to handle a business, how to handle
a classroom, that kind of a thing. Well, I think
it's a great book, as John's pointing out. It's
not a big book. It kind of reminds me of those
old sports hero books that you used to read in
the library, like Lou Gehrig, you know, Iron
Man, and things that was about 150 pages. They
were orange. I remember them specifically. But
tell us a little bit about Eisenhower. Tell us
about his upbringing that kind of led him to
the military. Could you do that for us? Sure,
his young days were pretty much, as I read about
him, I thought, well, you know, a lot like my
own. He loved sports. He had his childhood heroes.
One of them was Honest Wagner, the great baseball
player. Most of them were military and Western
figures, because he lived out West, obviously.
He especially admired Tom Smith, the marshal
of Abilene, Kansas, would go out and visit his
gravesite. So he roamed the fields with his brothers
and was quite popular in school. He wound up
at West Point not because he had this great dream
of being a huge military figure, but for two
reasons. It was a free education, and the taxpayers
were footing the bill. And secondly, he wanted
to play football. He loved football. That was
his passion early in life. The fact that it was
at West Point was secondary. He got his free
education and he had the chance to play football.
But unfortunately, his football career ended
quickly. Yeah, he had a string of injuries. He
overcame a couple of them, one when he was still
back in Kansas. He had a knee injury and sort
of fell into a coma, and the doctor was examining
him, and he told the family they might have to
amputate the knee or the leg. And Eisenhower
heard that. Well, when everyone left the room,
he back into his brother and said, I want you
to promise me you will not let them take my leg.
I can't go on if I can't play football. And so
they did not, obviously. But then in West Point
he suffered some more injuries and had to leave
football. Walked the campus sort of depressed
about it and students started calling him gloomy
face. He didn't turn his full attention to studies
at all. I mean when he graduated it was a very
unremarkable record that he amassed. For instance
in academics he was sort of right smack in the
middle. and discipline out of his class, he was
right near the bottom of it. So he really wasn't
one who applied himself yet. I taught for 30
years in eighth grade. Oh, you deserve a medal
just for that. I did that for six years myself.
I know, that's what everyone says, oh boy, what
about the jungle that you were in. But you know,
if you enjoy that age group, and I did, you have
a blast. You know, I look at teachers who teach
first graders, and I think, whoa, man, I could
never handle that. But if you enjoy your area,
your age group, you'll have a lot of fun. And
I would, every once in a while, have a student
that I would look at, and the student would receive
maybe a C or a B minus, and I'd be thinking,
you know, you're so smart. I know you just seem
to be biding your time until the challenges start
to roll at you. And that was Eisenhower. The
challenges had not yet occurred. It was football.
Now that that's gone, he had to find something
else. And eventually he found it when he got
it going on his military career. Well, we're
talking with John Wolkovitz, the author of a
new biography called Eisenhower. It's not that
new anymore. It came out last fall, I believe.
Yeah, November. Last November. And also joining
us is Dan Holt, who is the director of the Eisenhower
Library and Museum. Can either one of you tell
us a little bit about after he graduated from
West Point in what, about 1918 somewhere in that
neighborhood or earlier than that? No, it was
1916. 15. 15, 1915. Okay, and then he didn't
get to participate in World War I overseas, did
he? No, he was one of those where, and this was
maybe the first challenge in his military career
that he missed out on combat quite often uh...
he in world war one he had uh... a few opportunities
where he thought he would but uh... he was always
assigned to a training post uh... he'd even uh...
participated with the three hundred first tank
battalion for instance and the superiors had
sort of uh... promise that that battalion would
go overseas and fighting and it did but they
kept him back home uh... to do some more training
and then in uh... late nineteen They said, well,
in the spring of 1919, we're going to have a
new offensive, and you'll be part of that. Of
course, the war ended before that happened. So
he looked back on that as sort of one of the
down times of his military career. But like everyone
who succeeds, you sort of take obstacles and
turn them into opportunities. And this is where
now these challenges started to come his way.
And he started to look at his military career
in a more serious manner. And he decided, hey,
maybe I didn't do that well at West Point. Maybe
they saw that. I'm going to start working harder
now. And by God, I'll make something out of myself.
And of course, it eventually did happen that
way. So tell us a little bit about his experiences
with MacArthur. Once he once he went from at
the end of World War one, how soon did he go
to the Philippines with MacArthur? Okay, is this
for me or Dan? Either one can jump in then I'll
go to Dan this time I'm gonna have to get to
another phone. I think my Battery's getting low
be right back. Okay. Thank you. All right, then
John. I'll give it to you Yeah, I'll take well
he has he had many experiences with MacArthur
before the Philippines even he worked with him
in the early 1930s in Washington D .C. You got
me? Yes, thank you. Yeah, go ahead. As I said
just before John came on the air, that if you
don't study the interwar period of Eisenhower,
you don't understand Eisenhower in World War
II. And as I mentioned, the Philippines is probably
the most important training he had. One anecdote,
one of the injuries he had to his leg at West
Point that got him out of football was dismounting
his horse, which everybody gets a kick out of.
But on the other side of that, Eisenhower didn't
quit. He didn't mope around. He became cheerleader.
So here's a man who had lost the one love he
had, but he turned right around and helped support
the team. So just only anecdotes about his character.
But when you look at his work with the War Policies
Commission, writing everything almost for the
Secretary of War and Assistant Secretary of War
speeches, and the revamping of the Army during
that time period, and then facing MacArthur in
the Philippines. where he built, actually built
an army from nothing out there and he had to
deal with very, very difficult social structure.
Almost a foreign head of state in Quezon who,
as you remember, fought against us in the Philippine
insurrection and would have done it again if
he could have found a way to do it. So here's
Eisenhower stuck. between MacArthur and Kazan
and it got so bad on occasion that Kazan would
invite Eisenhower to the palace to find out what
MacArthur was doing. Here's a man who was stuck
in the middle of a very diplomatic situation
and I've often said when he goes to England in
42 he has to deal with the Brits somewhat with
the French and a group of American military commanders
who really weren't up to snuff yet. It was child's
play. He'd been through this. I was going to
say, the other story that we know about Eisenhower
being stuck in the middle was with the Veterans
March on Washington in the early 1930s. Yeah,
he wrote MacArthur's report for MacArthur and
tried to make MacArthur sound as good as he could.
And you find this all the way through. He was
literally writing all the Assistant Secretary
of War speeches. He was meeting with people like
Bernard Baruch on almost a weekly basis, a major.
I became convinced when we were editing his pre
-war diaries and papers that any time they wanted
anything done in the War Department, they just
gave it to Eisenhower. This is an image that
most of us don't have of him. A very smart man
and an excellent writer. It sounds like it. So
we've got Eisenhower working under MacArthur
here. Is he a lieutenant colonel or colonel yet?
Well, it depends. He's got a whole slew of temporary
ranks. It's too hard for most people to sort
this out because you don't understand temporary
ranks and the permanent ranks. He goes through
that time period from he might be a major, then
he might be a lieutenant colonel, then he's back
to major, then he's colonel, then he's back to
major again, then he gets his permanent ranks.
That's just too complicated to really go into.
Basically, most of that time, he was a major.
I guess the point I was trying to make is that
in today's military, you don't normally spend
20, 25 years to get to be a major. Yeah, you've
got to remember when he's in the Philippines,
he comes back, he's a 51 -year -old permanent
lieutenant colonel with no future, basically,
until the war breaks out. John, I'm going back
to you. John, did he contemplate retiring at
any point? Well, maybe very early, but nothing
serious. In the 1930s, he had a couple of quite
lucrative financial offers to leave the military.
One from publisher William Randolph Hearst, who
asked him to be the newspaper chain's top military
correspondent. And he turned that down. And a
second from a citizens group in Manila. He decided,
no, the Army is where I want to stay. Eventually
the country will be involved in a conflict, and
I want to be part of that. He had studied quite
a bit in the 20s under a man who was his mentor,
General Fox Conner. And Conner always emphasized,
you know, maybe in 20 years, whatever, there'll
be another clash, and you'll have to know how
to work with allies. And so Eisenhower was trying
to prepare for that. And that's why his service
with MacArthur was so valuable for Eisenhower
in writing all these reports and in dealing with
the numerous politicians who came through MacArthur's
offices when they were in Washington, D .C. Eisenhower
received excellent training in how to handle
people and in how to present complicated information
in somewhat of a simple fashion, in a clear fashion.
So it was quite a good experience for him. I've
got a little bit less than a minute till we come
up to our next break. Can you tell us a little
bit, just a quick story about his, where he was
at the beginning of World War II? I'll tell you
one thing you need to look at on that. He's at
Fort Sam and he was asked to give the graduation
speech to the air cadets at Kelly Field. And
he was invited to do that in November. And he
sits down and writes the speech. And then after
Pearl Harbor, he rewrites the speech. And it's
one of the most inspiring, inspirational things
you'll ever read. And it was never given. And
if you really want to take a look at the Real
Eisenhower, that's the speech you need to look
at right before the war. And then, of course,
he was summoned to the war. We've got to go.
We'll be right back after this. You're listening
to Veterans Radio. The Medal of Honor is the
highest award for valor in combat given a member
of the Armed Forces of the United States. There
have been over 3 ,400 recipients of the nation's
highest award. This is one of them. Corporal
Larry Maxim, despite numerous severe wounds,
continued to defend his position for an hour
and a half. Details after this. Maxim was serving
as a fire team leader in Vietnam when the district
headquarters came under extremely heavy rocket,
artillery, mortar, and recoil its rifle fire
from a numerically superior enemy force, destroying
a portion of the defensive perimeter. Maxim,
observing the enemy massing for an assault into
the compound across the remaining defensive wire,
instructed his assistant fire team leader to
take charge of the fire team and unhesitatingly
proceeded to the weakened section of the perimeter.
Completely exposed to the concentrated enemy
fire, He sustained multiple fragmentation wounds
from exploding grenades as he ran to an abandoned
machine gun position. Reaching the emplacement,
he grasped the machine gun and commenced to deliver
effective fire on the advancing enemy. As the
enemy directed maximum firepower against the
determined Marine, Maxim's position received
a direct hit from a rocket -propelled grenade,
knocking him backwards and inflicting severe
fragmentation wounds to his face and right eye.
Although momentarily stunned and in intense pain,
Maxim courageously resumed his firing position
and subsequently was struck again by small arms
fire. With resolute determination, he gallantly
continued to deliver intense machine gun fire,
causing the enemy to retreat through the defensive
wire to positions of cover. In a desperate attempt
to silence his weapon, the North Vietnamese threw
hand grenades and directed recoilless rifle fire
against him, inflicting two additional wounds.
Too weak to reload his machine gun, Maxim fell
to a prone position and valiantly continued to
deliver effective fire with his rifle. After
one and a half hours during which he was hit
repeatedly by fragments from exploding grenades
and concentrated small arms fire, he succumbed
to his wounds, having successfully defended nearly
half of the perimeter single -handedly. The Medal
of Honor series is a production of Veterans Radio.
If you have a VA claim that was denied by the
Board of Veterans' Appeals, contact Legal Help
for Veterans at 1 -800 -693 -4800. There are
experts in handling cases before the U .S. Court
of Appeals for Veterans' claims and will help
you get a proper review. boating enthusiasts
out there. Now it's getting to be that time of
year and I want you to make sure that you give
my friend Ray Schrader a call at Schrader Yacht
Sales in Point Pleasant, New Jersey our national
sponsor here. Give Ray a call at 732 -899 -8010.
Did you know, I bet you didn't know this, the
first Chris Craft was built in 1874, and today
that tradition continues. Wherever you go, it
is a boat that has a destination in itself. Designed
without compromise, it is exhilaration taken
to the extreme. Whichever model you choose, each
one will catch the eye, steal the heart, and
fill your lungs with healthy outdoor air. Come
into Schrader Yacht Sales to experience all of
this for yourself. So give Ray a call again at
732 -899 -8010, and he promises he'll come all
the way to Michigan if you need him to. to deliver
his boats. That's Schrader Yacht Sales at schraderyachts
.com. S -C -H -R -A -D -E -R -Y -A -C -H -T -S
dot com. Need any home repairs? Pat the Handyman
is a licensed and insured remodeler who served
in the United States Army. He can paint your
home, install a kitchen, or finish those repairs
you started and somehow never quite finished.
So call Pat the Handyman at 734 -260 -1158 and
tell him you heard about him on Veterans Radio.
Len Pitlak, CPA, is an award -winning consultant
for the U .S. Small Business Development Center.
Let him use his 25 years experience to bring
you, as an individual or small business owner,
his professional and courteous tax and accounting
services. Give Len Pitlak a call today at 734
-993 -1313. And we're back on veterans radio
coming from the studios of Bobby Maria radio
in Ann Arbor, Michigan Joining us today on veterans
radio is the author of Eisenhower a new biography
and a great general series. That's John Wukowicz
And also we've got Dan Hall the director of the
Dwight D Eisenhower Library and Museum in Abilene,
Kansas and in the studio is Bob Gould my partner
and Introduce the rest of the folks as we get
toward the top of the hour But I wanted to, now
that we've just gotten into World War II, which,
of course, we all know is Eisenhower's finest
hour to take away something from Churchill. And
so, Dan, I'm going to ask you a little bit. We
mentioned a little bit about how he got involved,
where he was at the beginning of World War II.
Well, like I said, quickly, a minute ago, he
was at Fort Sam Houston. He actually was coaching
two football teams too at the same time, one
in an academy and one in high school. And then
he, if you want me to repeat that about the speech,
but he is called to the War Office, War Department
right after Pearl Harbor and the speech I referred
to earlier, he never was able to give and we
actually checked with Kelly Field to see if somebody
else gave it and they didn't. I think if anybody
wants to read the real Eisenhower, you've got
to read that speech. And they could access that
how? I think we now have it online, but it's
in the book on Eisenhower's pre -war diaries
and papers. Remarkably, we have both speeches,
the one he drafted in November, which is the
ordinary thing to the Kelly Field cadets. You
know, you're the young officers and you get ready
to go. But then after the war starts and he rewrites
it, I mean he's talking about the duty of the
young officer is his very soul of existence.
This is a remarkable, remarkable statement that
he writes in his speech. Could you give out the
website for the library? Just go on and put in
eisenhower .gov and it will come up. I believe
that's one of the speeches they put on there
recently. That and the more famous in case of
failure note after D -Day. I'm looking at your
notes here as I've got your Eisenhower, the pre
-war diaries that was published for John Hopkins.
Is that available at Amazon? Yeah, I think you
can get it through Amazon. You can also get John
Wolkovitz's book, Eisenhower, through Amazon
and all the rest of the books that he has written.
Let me go back to John for a moment here. John,
tell me what happened next with Eisenhower. Right
after the war started, he then did some work
in planning operations around the world, trying
to get some equipment.