The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-11-04
PERSHING'S MANY NARROW ESCAPES
Under FIRE TOLD BY SERGEANT
6eneras Personal Chauffeur Declares He Spent More Time Under
Fire Than Any Officer or Enlisted Man Of the American
Evolutionary Forces-Aways in Advanced Post
Directing Major Operations

New York.-Gen. John J. Pershfng
vas tho hardest working man Of the
American expeditionary force and was
under fire q greater number OF hours
during the war than any officer or en-
listed man under his command, &C.
eording to Sergeant Cesar Santini,
who was the generals personal chauf-
feur throughout the entire length of
Americas participation. In the war.
The general worked late and was al
ways In the advanced post command
directing the movements Of troops dur
ing major operations.
General Pershing personally direct
ed the st. Mihiel fight, was In the Ar
gonne forest commanding operations
for nearly two months and mingled
with the advanced troops at Cantigny
and Chateau Thierry. He questioned
prisoners brought in by the doughboys
1t Cantigny and Chateau Thierry, and
In the latter operation walked into
the wheat fields to the gun positions
to personally commend their crews
and to tell them how proud he was
Of them.
Sergeant Santini, who reveals these
hitherto unpublished facts Of the do
ings Of General Pershing in France,
10 Frenchman by birth and enlisted
In the United States army as an auto
mobile chauffeur and engineer at Gov
ernors Island on April %, 1917. His
knowledge Of the French language and
his ability as chauffeur led to his
selection az the commander in chiefs
personal chauffeur. Sergeant santinl
sailed from the United States with
General Pershing, he drove the gen.
eral over forty thousand miles of
French roads during the more than
two years he was in France, and he
returned home aboard the transport
Leviathan with the commander in
chief.
Awarded Citations for Bravery.
The general has given Sergeant
Santini gold cigarette case as
token Of his appreciation Of the chauf-
feur's services to him, and the SER
geant holds a citation personally
awarded him by the commander In
chief for bravery under fire. The e.
tation stands as mute evidence of the
hazardous situations General PershinE
found himself in at times, as Sergeant
Santini was virtually never out Of
close touch with his commander, and
they both naturally suffered the same
ordeals from shell fire.
- Sergeant Santini was recently mus
tered out Of service and has taken It
upon himself to tell Of his association
overseas with General Pershing.
Long before American troops reach
ed the front General Pershing went
through the rigors and strain Of in
tensive shell fire. In the summer Of
1917 he was the guest Of the French
commanders and witnessed the attack
on Chemin des Danes. On this &C.
CASTOR the commander in chief rode
right up to the barbed wire entangle-
ments in his automobile and crossed
the German trenches directly behind
the lines of French infantry.
Again in the Luneville sector where
the first Americans fell In the war.
General Pershing went into the line.
He donned hip boots and traversed
several miles of trenches during an
enemy bombardment. On this occa-
sion Sergent Santini waited in COM
munication trench until the general re-
turned, and admits the Jerry" was
using his high explosives to compare
lively good advantage.
Shell Just Misses Car.
OF the numerous narrow escapes
General Pershing had in his time at
the front the narrOwest was, accord
ing to the best recollection of Sergeant
Ssntini, the day before the battle Of
Cantigny. The general was riding
along a road toward the advanced
headquarters, which at that particu-
lar time was being heavily shelled by
the Germans.
Shrupnel shells were continually
bursting directly over the automobile,
steel fragments on several occasions
landing on the roof of the machine.
General Pershing and his aide-de-
camp, who were seated in the tonneau
of the car, seemed to be little affected
by the "strafing" they were under
going, and no matter how near the
shells landed their conversation, which
probably had to do with the major
operation of the morrow, was not in.
terrupted.
Zone shell-it was one of Jerry's
largest'-Sergeant Santini declares,
,''hit the road directly in front Of US
and only about a hundred feet from
!the machine. Had there not been q
heavy rainstorm the day before, which
turned the road into a mire Of mud,
linone of US probably would now be
!1alive to tell the tale. Our automobile
Twas splAshed, with mud. but beyond