Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a rare and lovely example of an early Lieutenant-Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower signed while he was in command of the Tank Corps. Eisenhower served initially in logistics and then the infantry at various camps in Texas and Georgia until 1918. When the U.S. entered World War I, he immediately requested an overseas assignment but was again denied and then assigned to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. In February 1918, he was transferred to Camp Meade in Maryland with the 65th Engineers. His unit was later ordered to France, but, to his chagrin, he received orders for the new tank corps, where he was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the National Army. He commanded a unit that trained tank crews at Camp Colt – his first command – at the site of "Pickett's Charge" on the Gettysburg Civil War battleground. Though Eisenhower and his tank crews never saw combat, he displayed excellent organizational skills as well as an ability to accurately assess junior officers' strengths and make optimal placements of personnel.

The “Honorable Discharge From The UNited States Army” is for Private First Class Forrest L. Cooper. PFC Cooper served with Company C, 338th Battalion, Tank Corps under command of the then Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower. According to his discharge, and in the same situation that Eisenhower found himself in, he appears to have never served overseas. He enlisted on September 3, 1918 and received his discharge on December 1, 1918 which is when Eisenhower, his Commanding Officer, signed his paperwork as D.D, Eisenhower.

The discharge paperwork is accompanied by a Letter of Authenticity from James Spence Authentication at the New Jersey Office. The letter was then notarized by a Notary Public of New Jersey on April 25, 2018. The notary states that “Before me, the undersigned notary public, this day personally appeared JAMES J. SPENCE JR, to me known who being duly sworn according to law, claimed this to be a true document’. These Letter of Authenticities are great to have when it comes to rather rare signatures and further legitimizes the document.

A great example and piece of history ready for further research and display.