Evening star., 1948-07-20
Pershing's Body
Islaid 10 Rest
0nAr|ingtonHi||
Leaders of Nation
Pay FinoI Tribute
At Generals Grave
By George Kennedy

BY George Kennedy
It was a magnificent funeral
1t was a noble tribute of our
modern Army to the man who
created it.
John J. Pershing, who commanded
the American Armies of World War
I, was laid to rest between two cedar
trees on a green hun1mock in Airing
ton Cernetery-a place that will be
known hereafter as Pershing Hill.
Despite the grave international
situation, priority over everything
had been given to the funeral
The leaders of the new Army have
always recognized that it was
Cen. Pershing who captained the
change, who had planned an army
Of millions to beat the Germans, and
who succeeded to the point where he
was able to commit more than l.
100000 men in october and Novem-
Der. 1918, in the Battle of the Meuse-
Argonne, the American sector OF the
nnal action of World War I.
Troops March.
It will be many day before
washington again will experience
anything like it. Great captains do
not die in every generation. 1t was
all the shuttle of marching feet, the
strength of the 82nd Airborne in
battle helmets, jump shoes and
baggy paratrooper pantaloons; the
West Point third classmen in white,
holding a perfect rectangle OF ranks
despite heavy downpour; the beat
ing of muff1ed drums, the haunting
melodies of funeral marches, the
clap of thunder and shiver OF 1ght-
ming. And then under bright blue
skies. the color Of flags and flowers.
the gleam of white marble, the
smell of grass and clover growing
afresh in the drenching July sun,
the glad tidings of the Psalms, the
booming of cannon, the rip OF rifle
fire and TAPS"
1t was not like the Roosevelt fu-
neral procession in Washington
where people on the curb said, Hes
gone!" and broke down and Wept'
The crowds along the line OF march
estimated at more than 100000
and in the cemetery chiefly showed
respectful interest.
Almost 10 years ago Gen. Pershing
had defeated death and lived to see
the enemy he wanted beaten INTO
unconditional surrender" burst
through the Low Countries again
and to see American armies that
won the admiration of the world
roll them back. He outllved MS
juniors. The lieutenant generals
who commanded his armies, Liggett
and Bullard, were dead, and Dick
man, who was to have been given
an Army had not the war stopped.
With q few exceptions his division
commanders were gone.
One exception was young Douglas
Macarthur whom he had made
commander of the 49th Division
few days before the end. Harbord,
his brilliant supply officer, died two
years ago. Only one of the COM
manders in chief of the western
front lived-Marshal Henri Petaln,
a prisoner of France, last reported
seriously i'll on the island OF Yeu
off the Vendee coast.
George S. Patton, jr.. the youth
full captain who was such favorite
with him and who accompanied
him on his visit to the King and
Queen of the Belgians, was buried
in Luxembourg, his position as one
of the great generals OF American
history assured.
Summerall Attends.
The funeral was a gettogether
for the surviving top officers of the
A. E.F. Gen. Charles P. Summeral,
who commanded the 5th Corps IN
that final battle, was there; also
Gen. John L. Hines, who command
ed the Sd Corps. Others were Maj.
Gen. Fox Conner, 1st Army chief
of operations; 1t. Gen. Hugh A.
Drum, 1st Army chief of staff; Maj.
Gen. Walter A. Bethel, the judge
advocate, and Maj. Gen. Merritte
w. Ireland, chief medical officer of
the A. E. F. OF Gen. Pershing's
staff, only his Co., Maj. Gen.
Dennis E. Nolan, was present.
Many of them went to the Army
and Navy Club after the funeral
and discussed the departed-that
strange, strong man about whom no
two can altogether agree.
The surviving officers who saw
the old Army change into the new
were not the only representatives of
the A. E. F. There were the citizen
soldiers who had their first military
experience in 1917 and 1918. One
of them was the lieutenant of Bat
terry D, 129th Artillery. 35th Divi-
sion, who is now the President of
the United States.
All along the line of march and
scattered among the invited guests
IN the ampitheater were middle
aged men in Legion caps. They
are the men who remember lining
up at attention at Bordeaux, or st.
Nazaire or Nantes or some other
installation in France to be in
Spected by the general who always
looked the part.
The crowd along the route of the
procession and in the ampitheater
would have been much larger had it
not been for the rain. Those on
the curb braved the first shower.
but the brief downpour that fol-
lowed shortly after sent men scurry-
ing in wrinkled suits and women
with their hair plastered to their
heads. The amphitheater, which
seats 5000, was only two-thirds full
when the ceremony started.
A sentinel with fixed bayonet was
walking sentry like an automaton
at the Tomb Of the Unknown Sol
soldier, when the flag -draped cais-
son, drawn by six gray horses and
a lead horse, stopped in front of the
epitaph in marble Here rests in
honored glory an American soldier
known but to God" That Unknown