The S.S. Mayaguez Crisis — This Week in 1975
President Ford briefs the Bipartisan Congressional Leadership on the seizure of the American merchant ship S.S. Mayaguez on May 14, 1975.
The Mayaguez had been seized in international waters off the coast of Cambodia on May 12. Over the next two days President Ford and the National Security Council closely monitored the situation, ultimately deciding to use air strikes and send in Marines to rescue the boat’s crew.
President Ford received word that the Mayaguez and its entire crew had been safely recovered shortly after 11:00 p.m. on the 14th, and at 12:30 a.m. he made the official announcement to the press.
In accordance with the War Powers Act, on May 15 President Ford sent a letter to the Speaker of the House and president pro tem of the Senate regarding the Mayaguez incident. Read the President’s account of his actions here.
-from the Ford Library
Today in History— The Death of Dwight D. Eisenhower
On January 20, 1961 Eisenhower retired to his small farm adjacent to the battlefield outside Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In retirement he did not completely retreat from political life. As an Elderstatesman he remained active in the Republican Party. Both Presidents Kennedy and Johnson solicited his advice on international problems.
Upon entering the office of the Presidency, Dwight Eisenhower had resigned his permanent commission as General of the Army. President Kennedy reactivated his commission as a five star general in the United States Army. With the exception of George Washington, Eisenhower is the only United States President with military service to reenter the Armed Forces after leaving the office of President.
In August 1965, Eisenhower suffered a serious heart attack that ended his participation in public affairs. He was frequently hospitalized over the next three years. He suffered another heart attack in the summer of 1968 and he spent his last few months in Walter Reed Army Hospital, where he died on March 28, 1969.
Eisenhower was buried in his World War II uniform.
More - The Final Post of Eisenhower
-from the Eisenhower Library
President George Bush celebrates Thanksgiving with the troops in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. November 22, 1990.
-from the Bush Library
Source: research.archives.gov
Eisenhower’s Dog Tag
Ike’s dog tag issued pre-WWI. Ft. Sam Houston was the first home for newlyweds Ike and Mamie Eisenhower.
-from the Eisenhower Library
Source: eisenhower.archives.gov
Things to celebrate this weekend: The Liberation of Paris
On August 25, 1944, the occupying German garrison in Paris surrendered after a six day battle. The French provisional government headed by Charles De Gaulle was given civil administration of Liberated France.
Photo: Soldiers of the 4th U.S. Infantry Division look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, after the French capital had been liberated on August 25, 1944.
More World War II history from the FDR Library: Day by Day
Happy Friday!
Source: research.archives.gov
Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson visits Berlin
August 20, 1961, U.S. troops arrive at the edge of the Western Sector in Berlin. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes hands with one of the soldiers.
-from The Presidential Timeline
The G.I. Bill of Rights
June 22 marks the 68th anniversary of the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, more popularly known as the GI Bill of Rights.
Although World War II was far from over, FDR was determined to plan ahead for a smooth transition to peace, both abroad and at home. The President proposed to Congress a way to level the economic impact of the war’s end and to integrate returning veterans back into American society.
The result was the GI Bill. Now widely credited with creating the post-war middle class, the GI Bill of Rights provided returning veterans with educational benefits, work training, hiring preferences, and subsidized loans for buying homes, businesses and farms.
Here is the White House Stenographer’s Diary from June 22, 1944. FDR signed the Bill at 11:30 AM.
See the signed copy of the Act, photos, and FDR’s speech here.
Source: fdrlibrary.marist.edu
D-Day Operations, June 6, 1944
German prisoners rest in a barb-wired enclosure on Utah Beach after being interrogated by American soldiers.
Source: eisenhower.archives.gov
“These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.”
-President Reagan at the 40th Anniversary Commemoration of D-Day, Normandy, France
On June 6, 1984, President Reagan spoke at the site of the U.S. Ranger Monument at Pointe du Hoc, France, where veterans of the Normandy invasion had assembled for the ceremony.
Left, General Eisenhower speaks with paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division just before they board their planes to participate in the first assault of the Normandy invasion, 6/6/44. Right, President Reagan greets former United States Army Rangers on the 40th anniversary of D-Day. Normandy, France, 6/6/84.
Source: reagan.utexas.edu
D-Day, June 1944
Coast Guard landing barges hitting the French coast with the first wave of the invasion. American soldiers wade ashore under heavy machine gun fire from Nazi beach nests.
Source: eisenhower.archives.gov
