Evening star., 1942-06-28

Harris -E,Uino Photo.
says he will eat anything, and she
likes to cook his meals because he
never complains even when she
scorches ham and cabbage.
Most of their married life he has
been too busy with Army work to
pay any attention to what was on
the table anyway. Between times
at his desk or the table. his wife says,
he planked his slender frame in an
easy chair with what seemed to her
to be very heavy reading. Once in
a while she caught him with a pulp
magazine of western stories sand
wiched between the pages of some
noble tome. He'd grin and say he
wished he could write the derned
stuff. too.
You see, Gen. Eisenhower is a
Tyler, Texas, lad who lived his early
life in the woody parts of Kansas.
He was galloping around on a horse
the first day Mamie met him in San
Antonio. He was just fresh out of
West Point. back in 1915, and a
dashlng second lieutenant of in
fantry.
The general plays an Indifferent
game of golf. beautiful bridge" and
Will even run foot race or broad
Jump if any one dares him.
He is smooth-shaved. has a bari
tone voice and pleasant, mobile
countenance that can be stern,
thoughtful or reflect fun and frolic
as the occasion dictates. He dresses
extremely well. whether in uniform
or clvieS, but no one would dare say
he was fop or a dandy.
Son Comes Home for Farewell.
Maybe it's this calm. tough
fbered soldier business about him
that causes his son, John, only this
year 'plebe' at West Point. to
think his pappy could win the war
all by himself. When John heard
the general was headed for England
he got leave from school and came
down here for farewells and to alb
sorb a little parental wisdom. Mrs.
Eisenhower says it was quite a part
ing-two strong men, father and son
calmly shaking hands, a final
toast to the success of American
arms, and the boys snappy salute to
his father before he about faced
and marched off to wars that one
day may be his to fight.
What does Mrs. Eisenhower do
while her men follow the flag? Well,
she works alternately in a couple of
downtown Washington canteens
serving sailors, soldiers and marines.
There the women wear no uniforms,
and they wait tables and wash dish
es-their husbands military rank
unknown to the hundreds of boys
who come in for a free meal if
they have no money to buy it.
Mrs. Eisenhower says that down
there Kipling would have found "the
colonels lady and Judy OGrady"
sisters in fact-wrestling with dish
pans. She is happy at her work and
says the general is mighty proud
she is doing it. So is son John.
She says she feels she has a war
lob here, and wants none of the
Army social life in Europe. Ike"
thinks the same way. Even when
in Washington he cut out all social
activity. came home to his dinner
and went to bed at $50 pm.
Doesn't Talk War at Home.
IKE never talked about the war"
she adds, sticking strictly to his
theory that a man ought to leave
his business at the Office We de-
cided a long time ago that it was
bad business to talk military affairs
either between ourselves or our
friends. I used to hear more at
bridge parties or what was going on
than Ike ever told me. On the few
occasions I asked him about what
I had heard he seemed startled and
wanted to know, Where did you
hear that kind of talk"
The general is 81 years old. and
Is regarded as an outstanding Army
officer because of his shrewd field
tactics. Gen. Marshall took a shine
to him when he served as chief OF
staff on 1t Gen. Walter Krugers
Sd Army last summer in war games
against 1t Gen. Ben Lear's highly
mechanical I'd Army operating IN
Texas and Louisiana.
Personally Ike" Eisenhower never
smelled the smoke of battle. Dur
ing the last war he commanded a
tank unit at Gettysburg-the lum-
bering old babies that could make
about miles an hour at top speed.
He thinks right much of mechanical
warfare. but he has yet to see it.
He has a pilots license and op-
crates his private airplane-but he
is not an air combat officer. Funda-
mentally, he is an infantryman and
for his money the infantry still is
the best outfit in uniform.
The general has the permanent |
rank of a lieutenant colonel, but
some folks ir the War Department