Ike Insight: April 2024 by Eisenhower Foundation

IKE INSIGHT

YOU DID IT!

In March, the Community Foundation of Dickinson County hosted its sixthannual Donate Day. Thanks to you, the Eisenhower Foundation raised $17,172! This secured a $10,000 match by the Community Foundation and a loyal Kansas donor, for a total of $27,172! All money raised will be added to the Eisenhower Foundation’s endowment fund. Thank you for your continued support of our mission to honor Ike’s legacy and share it with future generations.

Presidents Day Match Met!

Thanks to you — our loyal donors — the Eisenhower Foundation will be adding an original Dwight D. Eisenhower painting to our collection.

In honor of the 70th anniversary of Ike’s ﬁrst term in ofﬁce, the Eisenhower Foundation was issued a unique matching gift challenge. If the Foundation raised $20,000 for the 70th Anniversary Presidential Program Series by April 5, 2024, the Estate of Harry and Edith Darby would donate a priceless painting by Eisenhower to the organization.

The painting was a Darby family heirloom that was given to David Alford, grandson of Senator Harry Darby, who was a close friend of Eisenhower’s. The painting hung prominently in the Darby house, despite Ike’s personal note reading, “I advise strongly that you do not put it in a prominent place in your house. The deeper the shadow the better it will show up.”

Thank you again for your support, and we would also like to give a special thank you to David and his wife Sarah for making this matching opportunity possible.

Inside D-Day Commemoration…… Veteran Panel …………..….. IKEducation …………..…….. Meredith’s Memo …..……… 2 3 3 3 APRIL 2024

Join Us to Commemorate D-Day+80

On June 6, 1944, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Allied Commander of Europe during World War II, led the D-Day invasion of Normandy, France. Codenamed Operation Overlord, this was the greatest invasion in human history that, less than a year later, led to the liberation of Europe from Hitler’s Nazi tyranny.

The Eisenhower Foundation will mark the 80th anniversary of this historic event by hosting the D-Day+80 Years Remembrance Ceremony on June 6, 2024. This

will be the capstone of a weeklong series of events being planned at the Eisenhower Presidential Library campus in Abilene, Kansas.

Guests will include World War II veterans, dignitaries, military leaders, and elected ofﬁcials. Public events include a Remembrance Ceremony, World War II veteran panel and discussion, Hands-On History carts, free admission to the Eisenhower Presidential Museum, speakers, and more.

For more information, contact our ofﬁce at 785-263-6771 or email info@eisenhowerfoundation.net.

D-Day+80 Years Schedule of Events

Opening June 1, 2024 • D-Day Remembered: Photography by Fabrice Bourge

French photographer Fabrice Bourge, a native of Normandy, has witnessed over 25 years of D-Day commemorations beginning with the 50th anniversary in 1994. While the events have grown larger, yet fewer and fewer veterans who landed that fateful day attend, Bourge has concentrated his eye and his lens on the fringes of these events. Captured on black and white ﬁlm, and individually printed on silver gelatin paper, 40 photographs comprise this exhibit. His carefully and reverently selected photographs share the stories of the grateful compassion that French and international visitors continue to feel for the allied veterans who began the liberation of Europe on these beaches 80 years ago.

June 1, 2024 • Symphony at Sunset D-Day Commemoration Concert

This event will feature music from the Salina Symphony and the Fort Riley 1st Infantry Division Band, as well as food vendors, free museum admission, and Hands-On-History carts.

June 4-6, 2024 • World War II Emerging Scholars Online Symposium

The Eisenhower, Roosevelt, and Truman Presidential Libraries will present this online symposium. The 2024 symposium theme is Waging Peace and it will be streamed via YouTube. Visit www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov for more information.

June 6, 2024 • D-Day+80 Years Remembrance Ceremony

Activities will include a Remembrance Ceremony, World War II veteran reception and panel (see page 3 for more information), military reenactors, Hands-On-History carts, and more.

Open through March 2025 • Cold War: Soviets, Spies, and Secrets

This special exhibit was curated by the Nixon Presidential Foundation. Cold War dominated every facet of postwar 20th century Western life. Bomb shelters, air raid drills, and draft cards were as American as apple pie. Spies inﬁltrated the highest levels of government on both sides, while the superpowers stockpiled nuclear weapons. Were the United States and the Soviet Union able to keep the Cold War from getting hot?

Watch our website for updates to the schedule: www.EisenhowerFoundation.net

JANUARY 2024 2

Dale Faelber Carl Otto Paul Ybarra

Veterans Panel Part of June 6 Events

The Eisenhower Foundation will welcome three World War II veterans for a panel discussion at the D-Day+80 Years commemoration on June 6th in Abilene, Kansas.

SSG Dale Faelber served in the 28th Mechanized Calvary Reconnaissance Squadron in the European Theater.

Carl “Chick” Otto served in the Army’s 94th Signal Corp in Europe and was part of the Battle of the Bulge.

PFC Paul Ybarra served in Company G, 8th Infantry Regimen, seeing combat at the beaches of Normandy, Rhineland, and Battle of the Bulge.

The panel will be at 2:00 pm in the Visitors Center and will be moderated by Martin Madert of the Witness to War Foundation.

IKEducation Partners with Abilene High School

Eisenhower’s presidency saw huge advancements in science and technology. The double-helix structure of DNA was discovered in 1953, and in 1958, Ike signed into law the National Defense Education Act, which provided increased funding to math, science, engineering, and foreign languages to promote and improve America’s educational system. The Eisenhower Foundation shares in Ike’s vision to increase science literacy and enable the next generation of innovators. As part of this, the Foundation partnered with Abilene High School’s Advanced Biology class for a series of lessons and labs on DNA, each making connections to Ike. The Foundation looks forward to continuing Ike’s support of science education in schools.

Shannon Wranosky-Heintz,

This year marks the 70th anniversary of two pivotal moments during Eisenhower’s presidency. In May 1954, the Supreme Court issued their historic decision in the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education case. In July 1954, legislation PL-480, also known as the Food for Peace Act was signed by President Eisenhower. To commemorate these events, the Eisenhower Foundation is hosting a program on each topic to explore their lasting relevance to present day issues. Thanks to you, our donors, for making these programs possible. I’m pleased to announce that our Friends and donors will be able to watch these programs online via live stream. Details about how to watch will be shared by email. To be added to our email list, contact us at 785-263-6771 or at info@eisenhowerfoundation.net.

Silo Mural Project to be Completed This Fall

The Eisenhower Foundation has commissioned a mural to be painted on the Bert & Wetta silo in Abilene, Kansas, and is accepting design submissions through April 30. The design should incorporate elements of the life and legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower. The selected design will be announced by May 30 and the mural will be completed in the fall. A professional mural artist will take the selected design and adapt it to meet the needs of the silo being painted. This project is being completed thanks to support from the Kansas Department of Commerce, Kansas Creative Arts and Industries Commission (which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency), the Community Foundation of Dickinson County, and Bert & Wetta Sales Inc.

3 Meredith’s Memo

Abilene High School Biology teacher, works with students during a recent DNA lab.