Eisenhower Farm-Gettysburg June 1

 Eisenhower

Frist stop Harrisburg, PA to visit dear friend Sharon Sidler.  Everything was green, lots of recent rain, good campground for our RV.  Had an interesting visit to President Eisenhower's retirement farm.  He was originally born in PA to Mennonite parents and after retiring from the military wanted to raise Angus prize cattle here.  It was more than a homecoming for him and Mamie, since, at the end of WWI, as a Captain ready to go to Europe and the front line, he was chosen to train soldiers in the use of a new weapon/vehicle: the tank (Rickenbach, did your family have something to do with this?).  Of course, there were no tanks, so the 27 year old Captain improvised by using flatbed trucks with artillery in the back to simulate.  He managed over 10,000 soldiers.  Excellent background for this West Pointer, who ended up graduating first in his class at Leavenworth with this logistics/tactical experience.  Of course, the rest is literally, history.  Eisenhower becomes a five star general and commander in chief of Allied Forces WWII.  Amazing how life changes over such random events.

The Eisenhower's Farm retirement plan lasted until he was drafted to run for President for the Republican Party in 1951; it would be 8 years before they could settle down there permanently.  Among his guests there included Churchill, De Gaulle and Krushchev. 

Gettysburg

Also went over to the visitor center for the Gettysburg battle.  One of the highlight attractions/museums in the country, recently renovated in 2008.  Among other things they have a cyclorama with sound and light show which is very impressive.  It depicts Pickett's charge on day 3 of the battle, often called the high water mark of the Civil War for the Confederate Army.  The cyclorama is an artistic 3 dimensional creation in the round, 42' high, 377' around, 134' in diameter.  It includes over 20,000 men/horses on a canvas with excellent perspective.  Several of these cycloramas were created in 1880's by a Belgian/French father/son named Philippoteaux.  They were opened with great fanfare and displayed in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Brooklyn for many years.  Eventually all but this one were destroyed and this one was refurbished in 1962, incorporated in the new center in 2008.  The scale, perspective and accuracy of the battle has been widely acclaimed; we thought it was great.  Below a small slice of the painting.  Don't miss it if you get to Gettysburg.




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