New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1928-09-13
PERSHING REACHES
67H MILESTONE
"B,,d hex" Cdsbflts Birth
dayh Washington Today

Guy ID HNQn8lM lWay
Washington. Sept. II IN = Gen.
sral John J. Psrshing today ceie'
brated the ssth milestone Of . life
rich In adventure and accomplish
msnt. crowned by leadership Of the
battalions that fought in Americas
greatest war.
Nov fully retired after long and
fruitful. service In the army. the
man who. with Washington and
few othsrA rose to the high dis
tinction Of = fuil-rsnk general
found on this birthday echoes OF the
acclaim which = grateful world BE-
slows upon those 1t reveres.
At the war department where
General Psrshing has = handsoms
olsce. although he " no longer &C
lively connected with that branch
OF the government, time was set
aside today 10 that the general
might receive the four latest for
eign decorations which admirinc
nations have conferred upon him.
Congress Must Consent
Congress, which must consent
before Americans may receive such
decorations, acted favorably last
winter, but Secretary Davis Of the
war department postponed the pre-
sentation 10 that 1t might take
place today.
The decorations were those con-
ferred by the president OF Czecho-
slovakia In 1925 and by the presi-
dent Of Peru. the president Of Po-
land and the president Of Venezuela
in 1925.
Nearby. in fact in the same
building which was the setting for
further honoring this American
warrior. another department Of the
government wa pursuing efforts by
which the world might be brought
into universal peace and in this ef-
fort, General Pershing lent A. full
support a. he did to bringing VIC
tory at arms just ten years ago.
For him to indorse the Kellogg
BRAND peace treaty seemed to roll
back the years for his friends to
that day In Paris II years ago
when he exclaimed:
There must be no peace except
4 lasting peace"
Remembered 10 Years Ago
For Z man who has lived such
Z full life a. General Pershing has.
the changes that can come within
4 brief period may be accepted with
total unconcern, but his friends
found It difIicult today to reconcile
the serenity Of his 6Sth birthday
with the tumult surrounding the
anniversary ten years ago. The
great st. Mihiel drive had just come
to . close. President Wilson had
cabled the words symbolizing the
gratitude Of the American people.
He was = soldier with the whole
world speaking his name.
Then came the ensuing days of
swift victory for the allied forces
and ultimately the triumphal en-
frances into Paris. Brussels. Rome.
London. New York and Warrington.
There were onicial honors from
dozens Of governments and from
the French an honor given no
other foreign general-the privi-
legs Of riding under the Archie De
Triomphe.
Since Americans have established
almost . custom of bestowing the
presidency upon its greatest war;
riors. It was to be expected that
General Pershing should be spoken
OF In that connection In the cam
paign which followed the conclusion
of the war. But unlike Jackson,
Zachary Taylor. Grant. Harrison
and Roosevelt. tho soldier this time
stopped all moves in his favor.
Aided BY Presidents
Two presidents helped to lift
Pershing above all other American
soldiers and put him In a rank
with the great generals Of history.
Roosevelt made him a brigadier
general direct from = captain after
he had subdued the Moros in the
Philippines. Wilson placed him in
command Of the expeditionary forces
and made him a full general. which
rank congress later made perma-
uent.
When the World war came Per-
shing already had established a rec
ord for himself. He had fought in
the frontier campaigns, in the
Scandinavian war with Roose-
velts Rough Riders ut. Ell Caney
and San Juan. with General Nelson
Miles In the expedition against
Chief Geronimo and his Apache
braves and had gone through four
years Of jungle lighting in the Phil
ippines.
After the World war he was called
to work out his ideas Of national
defense by becoming chief Of the
army stan and later to attempt to
bring about peace between Chile
and Peru which were in trouble
over the Taena AFRICA boundary dis
pute.
BOrn in Missouri
General Pershing's birth IS years
ago today was al Meadville. Mo. OF
his ancestry = biogra pher says:
He was the son OF John Fletcher
Pershins and Elizabeth Thompson.