Ticker Tape Parade for Dwight Eisenhower

General Dwight D. Eisenhower`s parade in June 1945 marked the first New York ticker-tape parade since the outbreak of World War II, as well as the first of a cadre of parades celebrating the national and international military leaders and war heroes of the conflict. According to Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, “a million and a half people” gathered in New York that day to watch General Eisenhower be awarded the golden medal, New York`s honorary citizenship, and the symbolic key to Brooklyn (later reports testify to crowds reaching over four million). The celebration followed Eisenhower`s numerous military victories as supreme commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force (AEF) during the war. Emerging as a colonel in 1940, Eisenhower was assigned to chief of staff of the 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, and soon after, reassigned to chief of staff of the IX Corps. In 1941, he worked as chief of staff in the Third Army at San Antonio. His experience earned him a call to Washington soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Having earned the trust of General George C. Marshall and President Roosevelt, General Eisenhower relocated to England, where he became the commander of the American forces. His performance in Operation Torch, the invasion of English and American troops to North Africa, resulted in a successful negotiation for Italian surrender in 1943, which prompted Allied authorities to name Eisenhower supreme commander of the AEF, charged with leading the Allied armies, navies, and air forces. Most notably, Eisenhower led the massive invasion of Nazi-occupied France in Operation Overlord, which began on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The invasion forced the German army out of France, eventually leading to Hitler`s suicide on April 30, 1945 and German surrender a week later, on May 7.