Dwight D. Eisenhower was born in Denison, TX, on October 14, 1890. The Eisenhower family returned to Kansas when he was less than two years old. Young Ike grew up in Abilene, KS, where his boyhood home stands today. Eisenhower entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY, in June 1911 and graduated with the Class of 1915. Second Lieutenant Eisenhower's first assignment was at Fort Sam Houston, TX. In the years that followed Eisenhower's duties included the Army's 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy, the Tank Corps, the American Battle Monuments Commission, and training recruits for World War I. In 1916, he married Mamie Geneva Doud in Denver CO. His Panama service (1922-24) introduced him to General Fox Conner who took him under his wing and encouraged him to read widely in history, military science, and philosophy and was instrumental in Eisenhower's acceptance by the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, KS. Eisenhower graduated first in the 1926 class of 245 officers. After assignments in the War Department (1929-35), he accompanied Gen. Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines as an assistant military advisor; his principal duty was training the Filipino Army. After returning to the U.S. in 1940, Ike made his reputation as a great tactician in the U.S. Army's Louisiana Maneuvers of September 1941. Following the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Brig. General Eisenhower was placed in charge of plans for the Pacific Theater by Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall. Two months later, Marshall promoted him to chief of the War Plans Division where he received his second star. In June 1942, Marshall sent Eisenhower to England on a special mission to build cooperation among the Allies as Commanding General, U.S. Army, European Theater. Eisenhower arrived in England on June 24, 1942, and except for a brief stateside visit in January 1944, he was separated from his family until June 1945, following the end of the war in Europe. He served as Commanding General of Allied Forces Europe and planned and oversaw the Normandy Invasion on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. Eisenhower was promoted to 5-star rank in December 1944. He accepted the surrender of the Nazi Germany on V-E Day, May 7, 1945. General Eisenhower served as Chief of Staff of the United States Army from November 1945 until February 1948. He resigned from the Army on February 7, 1948 to serve as president of Columbia University in New York City. In 1950, at President Truman's request, Eisenhower took a leave of absence from Columbia to serve in Paris, France, as the first commanding general of the newly formed North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On June 1, 1952, Eisenhower returned to the United States to announce his candidacy President of the United States. Dwight D. Eisenhower served as our 34th President from January 1953-January 1961. Eisenhower died on March 28, 1969 and is buried in the Place of Meditation on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene KS.

John Sheldon Doud Eisenhower was born on August 3, 1922 in Denver, Colorado. Parents were Dwight D. Eisenhower and Mamie Doud Eisenhower. Early years, through eighth grade, Washington D.C., high school at Brent, Baguio, in the Philippine Islands; graduated U.S. Military Academy, West Point, June 6, 1944. European Theater (First U.S. Army) World War II, visiting Buchenwald just after liberation. Army of Occupation, Germany and Austria. Served in 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division during the Korean War, 1952. Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2 (Intelligence), 3rd Division, 1952-53; Army General Staff, 1957-59; White House Staff from October 1958 to January 1961; Brigadier General, AUS, retired. U.S. Ambassador to Belgium from April, 1969 to October, 1971. Publications: THE BITTER WOODS, 1969, listed as a best seller in Publisher's Weekly, The New York Times and TIME; a memoir, STRICTLY PERSONAL, published on May 17, 1974; Edited LETTERS TO MAMIE, 1977; authored ALLIES: PEARL HARBOR TO D-DAY, May 1982; SO FAR FROM GOD, March, 1989, about the war between the U.S. and Mexico, 1846-48; INTERVENTION! THE UNITED STATES AND THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION, 1913-1917, November 1993; AGENT OF DESTINY: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT, 1997; YANKS, 2001; and GENERAL IKE - A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE, 2003. John lived with wife, Joanne Thompson Eisenhower, in rural Maryland until his death December 21, 2013.

During World War II, he spent 300 days of 1944 and 1945 on the front lines in Normandy, northern France, the Rhineland, and Central Europe. Eliasof points out the route of his regiment in the European Theater of Operations from 1943-1945. He left the U.S. Dec. 5, 1943 and returned July 6, 1945.

Eliasof told a story of his Division found German soldiers hiding in a barn. Eliasof grabbed a white handkerchief, stuffed it into his rifle, and called for someone who could speak English. A German soldier came out, and Elaisof “told him behind me are 200 to 300 soldiers” and in the other direction, the Russians were advancing. He painted a very bleak picture of what could happen to the Germans, he said. With the war almost over, Elaisof convinced the Germans their best option was to surrender to him, rather than be killed or taken prisoner by the Russians. A short time later, 40 Germans walked out of the barn with their hands up, and surrendered to him.

Elaisof, who grew up in New York City, also recalled entering a German labor camp as the war drew to a close. He had heard of these camps, but until that moment, had thought they were work camps only. Reality set in when he saw the skeletal bodies of Russian and Polish soldiers that had been thrown into a huge hole for burial. “They were starved to death,” or died of disease, he said, before declaring with emphasis that he never mistreated any soldier he took prisoner, even offering them cigarettes and water. Eliasof is one of five brothers and two sisters. All five brothers served their country, he said proudly. Four were in the infantry, and one was a navigation bomber. After the war, Eliasof married, had two daughters, and worked in the garment industry, starting out by purchasing five sewing machines and setting up in a store in the Bronx. Within a dozen years, he had 125 employees, he said of the business he had established – Elias Brothers – which made children’s sportswear. “We lived the American dream,” Eliasof said.

He graduated from St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, of the University of London, MBBS ( equivalent to MD in USA ) in 1937 and was a registrar ( resident ) in OBGYN at the outbreak of WW II. He was recruited to the Royal Army Medical Corps of the British Army as a general physician/general surgeon in 1940. He was posted overseas initially to India where he attended to Lord Mountbatten who was the British Commander in South East Asia. He was involved in the Burma campaign and eventually was transferred to the China theater where he was stationed in Chungking. He achieved the rank of Major. At the end of WW II he was decommissioned from the military and returned to his further medical training in Queen Charlottes' Hospital, London as an OBGYN. He took up an initial Consultant post in Teesside, England in 1949 in the newly formed National Health Service ("NHS" ) where he remained in practice for the next 27 years. He retired early due to ill health and passed away at home in 1978, aged 63 years. He was granted the OBE after the war and later was made MBE for services to medicine at the end of his career. He rarely, if ever, talked of his time in the Far East but "would never wish it on anyone". He was a student of history and an admirer of both Eisenhower and Churchill and was always keen to read or watch military history TV shows of WW II to learn what had happened in other parts of the world during the war. As the son of one of "the greatest generation" and a US citizen of Kansas, I am proud to ask for his inclusion in the list of military members from WW II in the President Eisenhower Foundation.

Mr. Ellis served during World War II in the south Pacific where he participated in the long battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. He served on landing crafts which were used for transporting fully armed troops, light vehicles, and other equipment and supplies essential to amphibious operations. These boats made the Guadalcanal landing possible. He was critically wounded during one of the trips and spent the next year in naval hospitals before being honorably discharged in February, 1944.

Richard served on board the USS Chicago. He was a 'Fuse Setter' for the anti-aircraft gun mounts. His greatest thrill stemming from his war experience was going to the World War II Monument in Washington DC with the Honor Flight.

Lyle Robert Engle, the first born of Robert M. and Esther (Upton) Engle, was born on Friday, October 8, 1926 in their home in Enterprise, Kansas. The family moved a lot in his early years as his father sought work during those difficult years. Thus he has lived in various communities in Kansas, Nebraska and Wyoming. He also lived with his grandparents in Missouri for a year. Lyle had a brother, Roy, born in 1933 and a sister Mildred born in 1935 – both of whom idolized him as their "big brother". Lyle sold papers to buy his first bicycle and at the age of 15 was sweeping floors in the foundry for 15 cents an hour. Lyle begged his parents to allow him to enlist in the U.S. Navy, promising to finish high school upon his return. He left on August 23, 1944 for boot camp in Great Lakes, IL, then to Ft. Pierce, FL and then to Newport, RI for firefighting school and then back to Tampa, FL and on a ship. He served on the USS Saugus LSV IV, which carried troops to invasion fronts and casualties to rear areas. Lyle received an honorable discharge on June 12, 1946 as a Coxswain V-6 USNR at Norman, OK. Following his high school graduation, as promised, he began his career with Southwestern Bell Telephone Company on September 16, 1947 as a lineman. Lyle loved softball. If he wasn't playing, he was watching. It was at a softball game between Enterprise and Solomon that he first saw Darlene. Their first official meeting was at a dance at the Solomon Legion Hall on Valentine's Day in 1947. That was the start of something very special. They were engaged on Darlene's 18th birthday July 15, 1948 and married on February 13, 1949. Following a time of living in a 30 ft. trailer and in veterans housing in Enterprise, Lyle bought his first house in Solomon in 1952. He and Darlene raised their family in Solomon and all the children graduated from high school there. Following a farm accident on July 4, 1972 when a squeeze chute fell on him, Lyle was more limited in his activities, but he never gave up. Although doctors wanted to amputate his leg, he refused. He proved himself right as he was able to walk as he and Darlene celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary just 19 months after the accident. However, he was not able to do the work required of him by the telephone company so retired in 1975 after 28 years of service. Lyle and Darlene started building their dream home in 1979 just north of town. Lyle had loved farming and had a nice herd of charlois cattle. However, they sold the farm and moved into the home where Darlene's parents had lived on W 5th in 1992. After Darlene lost her valiant battle with breast cancer in 2007, Lyle sold that home and moved into Senior Housing in Solomon. He was still very active and enjoyed going to the Senior Center for lunch (when they didn't serve chicken). Lyle was not one who talked a lot about his faith in Christ, he just lived it. He always enjoyed having fun and many a young relative recalls being ‘hooked' by his cane as they walked by him after his accident. Lyle loved history and could give you dates and facts about any event of the past. He enjoyed the research of the Engle family roots and attending the 250th reunion of them coming to America as well as the 150th anniversary of those who moved to the Dickinson County area. He always looked forward to the reunion of his Navy buddies who also served on a LSV. He thoroughly enjoyed the trip for veterans to Washington DC to see the World War II memorial. Lyle and Darlene had four very beloved children – Sharon Louise born in 1950; Karla Jean born in 1951 in the midst of the big flood; Lynn Robert born in 1953; and Jerri Jo born in 1954. Lyle was always very independent and didn't really like to depend on others for help but he learned in recent years that it was okay to let others do for him. He agreed with his children when they thought he should move to Minneapolis this year to an assisted living facility and adjusted very well to his surroundings. He maintained his sense of humor to the very end.

Ralph N. Engel was inducted into the United States Navy on Judy 20, 1943, at Kansas City, Missouri. Engel's stateside duty stations included the Naval Training Station, Farragut, Idaho; Hospital Corps School, Farragut, Idaho; Naval Hospital, Seattle, Washington; Navy Receiving Station No. 3449, San Bruno, California; Navy Receiving Station No. 3964, Shoemaker, California; and the COM 9th Naval District, Chicago, Illinois. Ralph's overseas assignment was with CUB 16 G No. 4, and he spent time on the islands of Leyte, Samar, Tubabao, Manicani, and Cebu. His military decorations included the World War II Victory Medal, American Campaign Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. Pharmacists Mate 2nd Class Ralph N. Engel was honorably discharged on May 16, 1946.