knee, Dwight would never again play the game that he loved so much. It was at this time that the thoughts of returning home pondered his mind. After debating the choice, he decided to stay, and on June 12, 1915, he graduated as Second Lieutenant Dwight David Eisenhower. (Burk)A few days after, he was sent to Fort Sam Houston, in San Antonio Texas. It was here in which he would meet the very lovely Mamie Doud. A southern belle “saucy in the look of her face and her whole attitude,” (Steenwyk 20). Although Ike fell for Miss Mamie Doud, it was not the same for her. He was one of many young men whom she dated, and after many months of slowly getting rid of the enemy, he proposed to her on Valentine’s Day. In July of 1916, they married. (Steenwyk)In 1935 Ike was named the senior assistant to General MacArthur. This would mean that Ike would have to go to the Philippines. Eishenhower’s years in the Philippine Islands were very important links in the road that led him to the Role of Supreme Commander in the Second World War. Morin states in his book. “They added another dimension to his training to organize and lead a multination”. (Morin 51) It was at this time that he found himself dealing with proud and sensitive people. He would enter the political world, rubbing elbows and taking orders. “Eisenhower was born a diplomat, a man well endowed with tact and charm. The Philippines assignment developed these natural qualities”(Morin 51).Taking pride in what he did, he always had compassion in his life for his wife, and the men that he led on the battlefield. On November 8, 1942, Dwight’s troops landed in Africa. This was the first of many exciting yet struggling times for the young Commander. In letters he wrote to his wife, is where we find the man that paces the tent at night, wondering if he will come home, but more importantly wondering if his men that fought under him...
