Richmond residents eagerly shook the gently-extended hand of the most famous man in America.

General Dwight David Eisenhower had popped onto a Richmond train platform to a tumultuous welcome. He and wife Mamie made a brief stop on June 24, 1945 before about 2,000 east central Indiana residents, who had gathered at the depot to greet the leader of victorious Allied forces in Europe in World War II - and future President of the United States.

“Ike” is what everyone called him and no one stood on ceremony.

The President-to-be simply had a good time.

When roses were presented from the Joseph H. Hill Company, he called, “Mamie, they want you out here!”

Evidently the leader of allied forces in Europe in World War II didn’t feel comfortable accepting flowers; he was a great general, but official acceptance of roses was his wife’s specialty.