Evening star., 1942-09-13
Tribute to
A Great American
Bv Frederic J. Hdskin.

| washington, anu LidCCu va"
| United States, could well stop LOT
moment today and pay fitting tribute
| to a great American VINO persohLieS
millions of young men now offering theF
all even their lives, for their countfys
| nrotectton and that democracy may sur
vive That great American is Gen Johh
pershinq. soldier extraordinary,
| statesman and military diplomat, VINO
was born September Is. 1850.
| R,,t Gen. Pershing deserves AN sool-
tiona1 title. He was once KING III
France, with 20ooooo American SOL
| disrs az his subjects. At that time ths
eves of the world were centered upon
| his trim straight figure, which now
| ,,,ovas in near seclusion in Washington.
The intervening years nave aeeo nio
| great fighter from missouri ou1 i'i'
mind is still keen and his patriotie IN
terast In his country unabated. Indeed
he xvmbolizes the men who today ars
| helninp to finish the job which Gen.
pershing reputedIy wanted to finish IN
stead of signing the Armistice on NO.
vember IL, 1918.
Manv men famous now, and many
who will be famous after Washington
sees Pershing no more, will in tlme'
without doubt, be forgotten while the
one who was head of an organization
1000 900 strong will pass into history
as figure ever-increasingly to be ad-
mired. School children 100 years hence
though unable to name the Presidents
of the preceding half century VIII know
that it was John j. Pershing who leo the
first American troops to the Rhine IN
1917. Some miracle may bring about
world peace in the meantime, but the
callantry of a great American general
in 1917 and 1918 will always be re-
called
Those men who have served under
Gen. Pershing say they do not under
stand him. Even Marshal Foch had
heard this before he met Pershing.
French staff officer who knew the
United States well and knew what
show me" means, once explained the
expression to the French general, and
after meeting Pershing, Foch remarked
to the staff officer: "Pershing must come
from the very heart of Missouri"
History has never recorded to any
great extent the gentleness of generals.
Perhaps it is because their names are
associated with the grim business Of
| war. Or perhaps 1t is because then re-
| corded acts are cast in the language
| that describes a daring hero who on
| occasion must be ruthless as well as
brave. Yet while Gen Pershing has
always had a personality which leaves
2 the impression that he must be shown,
S he is, nevertheless, extremely humane,
e approachable and gentle, though a
d hard-boiled soldier. and possibly no
d other general ever lived who had
= greater interest in and affection for
q his soldiers
J., The background Of Gen. Pershing Is
t almost too classical to be recorded of a
e living man. His father came to the
: United States as a workhand on SAIL
d ing vessel and after rafting lumber to
: New Orleans and engaging in other
d types Of work, took up abode IN Linn
= County. Mo, then rough frontier The
e elder Pershing met and married a
Il daughter Of Virginian who had gone
= westward over the Tennessee noun
: tains and across the Mississippi. The
r, father, John Fletcher Pershing, at the
n time of his marriage was section fore
IS man Of the old Hannibal & st. Joseph
. Railroad. John Joseph was the first OF
S. nine children, but soon after the now
e famous general was born, the father
r became a soldier in a Missouri regi-
Y. ment In the Federal Army.
g Here, 1t seems, was the beginning Of
= Gen. Pershings military career He was
# old enough to listen to the story OF
a AppomattoX and was impressed when
It his father returned home. The Civil
r War was over, but in Linn County there
~ were many outlaws such as the James
It brothers and the guerrilla Cantrell.
s BushWackers raided homes at night. and
r one of these was the domicile of the
PershingS in the town of Laclede. In
addition the father of Johns first
>, school teacher was killed in a raid.
6 All these happenings made an indelible
=, impression on the boy who was destined
:. to be promoted to a full general, the
~ fourth to hold that rank since WASH
ington.
y In boyhood John J. Pershing worked
as farmland, studied, taught school,
. was frugal and saved enough money to
- attend q term at normal school, which
- enabled him to obtain a better position
- as teacher Meantime young Pershing
y, had an ambition to enter the United
- States Military Academy at West Point.
~ He did, and being impersonai, matured
in thought and tempered by frontier
life, he became the president of his
y class-the class of 1886.
= Pershing chose the cavalry as his
l. branch. At that time cavalry served
e, the frontier, where Indians still occa-
rs sionally went on the warpath. He saw
% action at once in the hard Apache cam
J. paign of 1886, and then In the Sioux
II campaign in 1901. He served four
y years as military instructor in the Uni
n versity of Nebraska, and later returned
n to West Point for two years as in
d structor in tactics. the technique OF
lie moving men forward and directing them
e In battle and subject In which he
j. always was interested
Gen. Pershing did not rise to mill
tary fame by the shortcut. the way was
is long and hard, His first real chance
T. came when he was given opportunity
h of service in the Spanish American War,
e, his gallantry and efficiency winning for
: him host of friends. Again he showed
e, the making of great general in an
q expedition against the Moros II, fha