Channels, Fall 2020

Channels • 20 20 • Volume 5 • Number 1 Page 49 desire to see overseas action alive, but determined also to see his duties through faithfully; he continued to complete the tasks he was given with excellence. At Camp Meade he was responsible for training the 301st Tank Battalion to prepare them for deployment overseas. In March of 1918, he was told that the 301st would soon deploy, under his command. Eisenhower’s overseas dream was alive again, for he was to be sent t o France. However, hardly had the Army brought up his hopes before they shot them down. Higher authorities decided Eisenhower was too valuable a trainer to let go, so while the 301st packed and left for France, Eisenhower was given orders to transfer to Camp Colt, Pennsylvania, to command the training of the Tank Corps. 17 The transfer came with a promotion to the rank of major, but it was little consolation to Eisenhower. Nonetheless, he undertook his new assignment with gusto, and per his usual record, achieved great things at Camp Colt. After a time of service there, which resulted in yet another promotion (this time to lieutenant colonel), Ike was elated to finally receive orders for overseas duty. He rushed home to Mamie, and told his wife that he was to report to Camp Dix in New Jersey to deploy on November 18, 1918. Unfortunately for Eisenhower, his greatest disappointment was yet to come. One week before he was supposed to go to Europe, WWI ended with the formal signing of the Armistice. 18 He was “defla ted and depressed.” 19 His dream to serve overseas had been squashed once again – for what he assumed would be the rest of his life. Despite the personal disappointment, the years of being transferred from camp to camp were far from useless or wasted. In hindsight, Eisenhower had developed and honed essential skills that would later serve him well. His future positions would greatly benefit from this time of learning and bettering himself as a leader. It was also during this span of time that he was nominated for and received the Distinguished Service Medal. In 1919, “Colonel Ira C. Welborn recommended him for the DSM… [which] finally came through in 1922.” 20 It was awarded for “his unusual zeal, foresight, and marked administrative ability” during the time of war. 21 Though Eisenhower was very honored, he was not as glad to receive it as one might expect. For him, it was a reminder of what he had not done – serve overseas. Though not overtaken by bitterness, it was a time of great disappointment in his life. Over the span of the next several decades, Eisenhower remained in service to the Army, serving under a series of “domineering generals.” 22 The first in this series was General Fox Connor, whom Eisenhower served under as executive officer from 1922 to 1924 in the Panama Canal Zone. During this three-year span, Connor mentored and taught Ike about 17 Geoffrey Perret, Eisenhower (New York: Random House, 1999), 67. 18 Chester J. Pach, Jr., “Dwight D. Eisenhower: Life in Brief,” Miller Center, accessed March 20, 2020, https://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/life-in-brief. 19 Ambrose, Eisenhower: Volume 1, 65. 20 Ibid. 21 Ibid. 22 Ibid, 73.