White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1931-06-11
WORLD
WAR
VAR MS
by Lieut.. Frank E. Hogon
The "I1ardest-Boiled" Of All

undoubtedly has his own chOlce IOr
the title of "hardest-boiled" officer or
nOn-com in the A. e. F. But If there
Is anyone upon whom majority could
agree, it is probably Gen. John ]. Per-
shing. And to the doughboy. smart
ing under the tongue-lashing of some
tough top-kick or crusty captain, 1t
was some comfort to know that there
wasn't an officer in the whole A. z. f.,
no matter how many stars he had on
his shoulder, who wouldn't get
rougher bawling out than any old reg
ular army sergeant could possibly
think of, if that particular officer
didn't measure up to the standard set
by the commander in chief. Where
fore some of the stories which leaked
out from G. Fl. Q. delighted the souls
of the buck privates, even if, as one
war correspondent-Irvin Cobb, it was
did say They'll never call him Pa
pa Pershing.'"
Discipline discipline discipline That
was the Pershing guiding star in whip
ping his forces into shape as an effi-
cient fighting machine. 81 tell you he
is martinez" cried one officer, after
he had been right sufficiently dressed
down." "You are wrong" replied an
older and wiser head, "He is trying TO
make you a better officer than you
would ever make Of yourself" On one
occasion Pershing visited aviation
headquarters in Paris unannounced.
A captain started to pass him without
saluting. Instantly the general caught
him by the shoulder and whirled h1H
around. Don't you salute your supe-
riors?" he asked, biting off about half
of each word. What a comfort 1t
must be to many an army-weary
doughboy to know that henceforward
that captain saluted everyone, from
second Ii utenants to generals-just
to be on the safe side!
Once an elderly general, his senior
when he was cadet at West Point,
rushed up to him with outstretched
hand. "John, am" he began. Per-
shing's icy stare checked him and Per-
shing's stern voice silenced him COM
pletely: address your commanding
officer as general" 1t is said that
one friend (not subject to army regu-
laaons and close enough to him to
speak freely) commented upon the fact
that he was happier in calling down
a general than private for an infrac-
ton of discipline or a weakness in mil
itary efficiency. II am" said Per-
shing, "a general should know BETTER"
Superhuman
Discussion has fourished on many
martial topics since the war, particu-
larly on the subject of the caliber and
character of men who were selected
to lead the American troops. Recent
ly group of Chicago veterans were
fighting the war all over again and
the topic veered to the proposition of
whether the mentality of the West
Point officer differed essentially from
that of the civilian. A former lieu
tenant maintained it did.
This man was at an artillery train
Ing camp when new major was sent
to the outfit. The lieutenant met the
major downtown the night before the
latter reported for duty. They ha
considerable in common and the en-
counter developed into quite festive
counter became quite festive affair.
In the wee small hours the major
and the lieutenant returned to bar
n01rcy foc st f~sn do fo,
hours later the lieutenant was sum-
moned to headquarters. There he was
given the opportunity to xplain why
he was absent from reveille.
He appeared before major who
was as spruce and alert as If just ar
rived from rest 'ure. The lieuten.
ant, recognizing the bon vivant of the
night before, essayed a feeble smile,
The major lectured him severely on
keeping late hours. and confined him
to quarters
"And a man who would do that"
mumbled the ex.ieutenant as he told
the story. "can scarcely be human"
A General Reviews Fleet
One of the many unorthodox events
witnessed after the war was the re-
view of an inland fleet by an American
general The officer was Mai Gen
Joseph T. Dickman. commander of the
American Third army. and the fleet he
reviewed was the American patrol
along the Rhine.
Nineteen vessels, in North Atlantic
battleship formation, passed before
Dickman's reviewing stand at Ander-
mach in February. 1919. They varied
in size from the Preussen, a stately
craft used by the general and the
provost marshal as flagship, to
number of the buZZing little gasoline
launches which piled up and down the
Rhine on voyages of inspection.
Marines manned the craft The pas.
sengers were doughboys. artillerymen.
quartermasfer corps soldiers-anybody
but sailors, who happened to be en-
jOying leave orders at the time.
Franklin D. Roosevelt. now governor