Remarks at the Dedication of the Eisenhower Museum, Abilene, Kansas.

Governor Arn, my good friends:

Knowing that I was going to be privileged to attend this ceremony today, I seriously considered the idea of preparing for it a talk. I decided that upon reaching here I would be so swept with waves of emotion that anything that I did in advance would be utterly useless and would be thrown away as I stood before you. And so I decided that whatever I should feel upon my arrival here I should try to communicate to you in a few simple words as I performed my small part in the dedication of this memorial.

First, may I express on behalf of every member of the Eisenhower family our very warm thanks to each individual here attending today. You typify for us that great spirit of America, indeed maybe we could say Kansas, cordiality and hospitality that we have come to expect every time we come back to Dickinson County and Abilene. We are more than grateful for every smile we have seen, for every shout that we have heard. I am certain also that you would expect me, on this day, to have a special feeling for the Armed Forces of America.

I am delighted that some portions of the Armed Forces, both in the professional, the civilian and the cadet formations, could find it possible to be here today. I spent 40 years of my life among them. I came on the battlefields of the world, and in times of peace, to have for them a respect, an admiration, which will never die.

And finally I should like to compliment the particular members of this parade on their performance. I have witnessed ceremonies throughout our country many times, and I have seen none that I thought exceeded in its exhibition of skill, in marching, and music, the one I saw today.

But another feeling is also deeply imbedded in my heart today. My brother in his talk expressed something of this feeling that we all have for the priceless gift of American citizenship, what it means, what features of it do not change, even though the world about us changes with bewildering speed.

And so it is, of course, of tremendous gratification for one who necessarily at the moment holds and carries great responsibilities in the development of America of the future, to know that here is an organization and an activity devoted to the promotion of good citizenship in America. I feel that there is nothing--nothing else--that could ever have induced the Eisenhower brothers to attach their name to something which inescapably would have certain elements, let us say, of self-glorification, except that that project was presented as something for the future good of America, the future validity and value of all of those teachings that will produce the citizens of the future America; the kind of thinking that will continue to pass on from generation to generation; the priceless gifts of freedom, of freedom of speech, and of worship, and of the right of earning; to work for yourself and your family and, as my brother said, for opportunity; the preservation of opportunity for each individual to fulfill himself both in the material and economic way, and in the intellectual and spiritual.

And finally, of course, that tremendous satisfaction that comes from knowing that your neighbors and your old friends that have been so helpful to you during your life--indeed, let me remark, there is present today a gentleman who way back in 1910, 44 years ago, was one of those who worked so hard to allow me to embark on a military career; I should like to take advantage of this little digression to thank personally Mr. Harger for all he did for me in those days.

It is very wonderful to think that such old friends, those that knew you in boyhood, and those that you have met since, should gather together and want to do something to commemorate the Armed Forces of the United States--a body to which, as I say, I belonged for 40 years--and to put their efforts, their substance, their time and their thought in making certain that the privileges of citizenship that were so well exemplified by my father and mother, and which their sons have so haltingly and at times so feebly tried to carry forward, are to be here enshrined forever.

And so I am bold enough to speak for every Eisenhower I know, or have known, for those representatives of six generations of Eisenhowers who lie buried in this county and the neighboring county of Geary, for all of them, for the generations to which they belong, and for those who shall bear our name or be related to us in the future, in expressing our humble pride that today we may be here to participate in this ceremony, as I am privileged, to dedicate this shrine to the future citizens of a great and glorious America.

Thank you very much, my friends.