Evening star., 1943-09-26
Bridge, Reading, Riding and Swimming Provide
EIsenhower's Recreotions Amid War Strains
By CLARK LEE

BY CLARK LEE,
Representing the Combined American Press,
Distributed by the Associated Press.
WITH GEN. EISENHOWER AT
AN ADVANCED ALLIED COM
MAND POST-The first thing that
strikes you about Gen. Dwight D.
Eisenhower Is that his speech, man.
ners, gestures and even his cuss
words couldn't be anything but
American. He has absolutely no
sophistication in the European sense
Of Continental manners, polished
small talk and meaningless chit chat.
This Is not to suggest that he
cannot take care Of himself in any
company. He is as much at home
with kings as with doughboys, and
he is a man of great tact and under
standing, but the essential quality
that you feel while talking to him
or watching him work are his in
tense sincerity and honesty. You
know Immediately that he would
never compromise in his fight for
what he believes to be right.
It is those qualities that have
won the respect and friendship of
his associates and which enable him
to quarterback with such great sue
cess the all-star backfield of Ad-
fairal Sir Andrew Browne Cunning
ham, Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur
w. Tedder and Gen. Sir Harold
Alexander, all of them famous Brit
fsf1 commanders when Gen. Eisen-
hover was still lieutenant colonel.
Has "All-Star" Staff.
Gen. Eisenhower's headquarters
staff is an all-star team, too, and
many of his subordinates have had
longer military careers than the
general
In planning an operation like the
current invasion of Italy, Gen. Eisen-
hover asks and accepts the advice of
his associates, but the final decision
Is his and so is the responsibility.
. Once his mind is made up and a
course of action decided on, Gen.
Eisenhower goes ahead unswerv-
ingly, using all his knowledge, skill
and resources to bring 1t to sue
cessful conclusion.
Up to now he has been uniformly
successful, but you feel that he has
the necessary strength to endure
reverses and to meet and survive the
setbacks that are bound to come.
Gen. Eisenhower's job is essentially
lonely one, its strain unrelieved by
the sharp excitement of combat ac-
ton. For him the greatest period
Of tension comes between the time
an operation is decided on and its
actual beginning, until the ships and
landing craft already are underway
to their invasion points and the
paratroops and planes are in the air
and 1t is too late to call off the
attack.
Sweating 1t Out"
Then he relaxes a little during
that period of sweating it out
an overworked G. I. expression that
applies to almost any situation in
volving waiting for something to
happen. Gen. Eisenhower faces in
his own mind the fact that great
many soldiers will die in the opera
tion he has planned. Then as any
soldier must do, whether private or
general, he puts that thought aside
and goes ahead with his work.
This writer has known Gen. Eisen-
hover only a few days and is not
going to attempt to tell his life
story, but here are few personal
notes about him.
Most Of the personnel at head
quarters refer to him as Gen.
Ike" including the British officers.
His aides call him "the boss" The
hides are Maj. Tex Lee, a breezy San
Antonian, who was formerly an au-
tomobile salesman, and Comdr.
Harry G. Butcher of Washington,
D. c., who left q job as Vice presi-
dent Of Columbia Broadcasting Sys-
tenn to join the Navy.
The generals reading tastes are
somewhat confusing. He likes any,
thing that is well written. Aboard
the plane in which he covers the
huge area he commands there is
well-selected shelf of classics.
Read Lees Book.
En- route to headquarters two days
before the invasion of Italy he
picked up Ivanhoe and read with
absorption for couple of hours. He
also is very fond of westerns and
goes through an occasional pulp with
interest. He doesn't care for who
Dunnits?"
The night before our invasion of
Sicily he stood on the coast of Africa
and watched the parachute planes
6y by. On the eve of the 5th Arny's
landing at Salerno he went to bed
ut 10 pm. and read for q while.
lHere is a chance for a free ad.
The book was this writer's They
Call 1t PacificD. 1t didn't keep
him awake long and next morning
he pointed out mistake I had made
In regard to the Philippines, where
the general served with Gen. Mac
Arthur for several years.
Gen. Eisenhower never sleeps
longer than exactly six hours. Then
an alarm clock in his busy brain
seems to awaken him. If he goes
to bed at 10 he is up at am. look
ing for coffee.
The general is as happy as any
g. I. when he gets mail from home.
In other periods of his Army serv-
Ice he has been separated from his
family, but never for such an indef-
mite assignment as this one. He
thinks it wonderful and little sur
prising when he receives batch
of letters. He wishes his wife would
use V-mail, which Is faster than
any other.
Takes Pride in Health,