I Like Ike

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The song says, “Abilene, Abilene, prettiest town I’ve ever seen.” Today, in a cold mist of rain, it wasn’t so pretty. Still, I stopped by to pay my respects to President Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower was president when I was born, so I guess it’s natural that I’d say “I Like Ike.” But that wasn’t the only reason he’s worthy of respect. As a general in World War II, he helped win the war in Europe as Supreme Commander of the US Army in Europe. As a man with tremendous foresight, he had troops, citizens, and press walk through the liberated death camps in Germany, declaring that one day someone would come along and claim the Holocaust didn’t happen. (And waddaya know, we have all kinds of people saying that today. ) The grounds are open; however, the museum, library, and visitors center are all closed (more on that later). It was an enjoyable stroll past the statue of Ike, beautiful, shaded grounds with squirrels running about, Eisenhower’s boyhood home, and a chapel in which Ike was laid to rest after dying of congestive heart failure in March 1969 (two months after his Vice President, Richard Nixon, was inaugurated). The town has that small-town Midwestern charm, and they are duly proud of their native son.