Day 11- Eisenhower Museum in Abilene Kansas

Today we went to see Ike's museum in Abilene. We got up at Joe's and got things packed on our motors and we were off to Abilene. Our first stop though, was the Harley Shop in Junction City. I got a new air filter and spark plugs for my motor because she seems to be burning more gas than usual. This was a quick little fix and we got back on the road. When we got to Abilene, the town was much like any of the small towns back in South Carolina, very homely feeling and everybody seems to be nice! We went to Eisenhower's museum and parked our motors. We proceeded to this building that looked to be a old home; much to our surprise, it was Eisenhower's boyhood home. We walked inside and there were two tour guides that gave us the grand tour of this boy hood home. The house is in its original location and everything is as it was when his mother passed away in 1946. His mother lived there until her death and Eisenhower and his five brothers said to leave everything as it was for others to come and see the home. See Eisenhower had some premonition that he would one day be President of the United States since he was already the 5-Star General of the United States Army! The home was beautiful and all of the tapestry was hand-made by Eisenhower's mother.

We left the home and went to the museum and it was just amazing how well designed the museum was. It talked about Eisenhower's boyhood, then his time at WestPoint. Did you know that his graduating class from Westpoint became known as the Class of Stars (General Officers)? As many as 75% of his class became General Officers in the Army and Eisenhower was the only one to become a 5-Star General. He was a fascinating man who was responsible for bringing ally forces together to have Nazi Germany to surrender and end WWII. He came back as an American Hero and had several parades for hime in different cities; Washington, Chicago and his hometown of Abilene!

Many people asked if he would consider running for President and he would never answer. But one day he made his announcement and the rest was history! He was the major cause of desegregating the Armed Services, Establishing the Air Force (separating it from the Army Air Corp), and pushing the first piece of Civil Rights legislation; which he signed in 1957 while he was President. He was the first President to have televised press conferences and the first to have Helicopters land on the front lawn of the White House. He was the first of many things in his life and it made him a great individual to study on! I can go on and on about Dwight David Eisenhower; as he was one of my favorite Presidents to study. Mike, as well, said that he liked this museum out of all that we have seen so far because he likes studying about WWII. We took lots of photos and even went to the President, his wife and their first born son's burial site, known as the Place of Meditation.

We spent a good bit of time at this museum because it meant alot to us as young men, who enjoy history, to really take in what Eisenhower did as he was Commander-In-Chief of the European Theater during WWII before he became President. Did you notice, I said Commander- In-Chief? Yes he was the first to be called Commander-In-Chief as the President after he was known for his heroism during war time. He was a very popular President and easily won a second term in office.

We left his museum with a great deal of gratitude and a feeling of pride for getting to know and understand a Great Commander-In-Chief who was epitome of a hard worker who had accomplished his dreams in life!

We left there and due to the time, we would not make the Truman or Hoover Museums on this trip. So we went on the Merrillville Indiana, where we were staying for the night. We did pass by the West Branch where Hoover's Presidential Center is located and in Illinois where President Regan was born!