Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-07-15


fought out and the back Of the
German line in France at last broken
In the reSistless drive to Sedan.
Gen. Pershing and his officers
were the center Of the endless poll
tical conflict and intrigue as they
worked and planned and humbly
sought to learn of the veterans
Of the four terrible years OF war
fare that had gone before. Every
aspect of American Army organiza-
ton had to be made over to fit
these modern war conditions; every
detail was worked out amid the
conflicting professional advice of
the French and British general
staff. 1t is typical of Gen. Per-
shing's cool steadiness that amid It
all, with each great ally seeking to
draw him to its own views, he steered
a certain course, learning even from
the undoubted military achieve
ments of the enemy and molding q
staff system suitable for American
ideals and purposes that more close
~ followed the German model than
either the French or the British.
Through it all, he waged his
battle for the establishment Of an
American Army.
Remained Much the Same.
Through all his extraordinary ex-
periences, which won him first the
temporary and then the permanent
rank of general Of the armies, Gen.
Pershing remained very much the
same man he had always been.
None has ever intimated n belief
that his head was turned. When he
came back from France in Septem-
Der 1919, he received unbounded
praise from Congress and the peo-
pie, but he insisted always that the
credit was due to the valor Of the
rank and file.
In his final report on the activities
of the AEF he found place for
little mention of himself, but he
was lavish with his praise TOR his
comrades. 49,.
when I think OF their heroism,
their patience under hardships,
their unflinching spirit of offensive
action, I am filled with emotion
which am unable to express" he
wrote. Their deeds are immortal,
and they have earned the eternal
gratitude OF our country"
OF his own spirit Of offensive
action" that ill-brooked the long
months Of trench warfare and clam
ored for attack, the general gave
an linking in that same report. It
was one of the few times he referred
to himself directly. Speaking Of thu
day when the German drive In
1918 finally had exhausted itself
against the Allied front, now backed
up by his own troops, he said:
The great force of the German
Chateau-Thierry offensive estab-
lished the deep Marine salient, but
the enemy was taking chances, and
the vulnerability OF this point to
attack might be turned to his dis
advantage. Selling this opportun-
lily to support my conviction. every
division with any sort of training
was made available for use In q
counter offensive"
That counter thrust broke the
back of the German hold on France
Never again did the enemy succeed
in stemming the tide of assault
launched against him.
Talked for President.
There was much talk of Gen.
Pershing for the presidency after
his return, but he put it all aside.
He threw himself into the task Of
revising American military policy
in the National Defense Act of
1920 and then, as chief Of staff, into
the planning to make that new
policy effective. He found it neces-
sary to teach that lesson to the
Regular Army itself before real
beginning could be made on working
out the three-part Army plan with
IGuardsmen and Organized Re-
serves.
In the days before illness curtailed
his activities he lived quiet, modest
life. He first lived in the Corbin
mansion in the Chevy Chase region
of the District. Later he moved to
q Connecticut avenue apartment
and then to . three-room suite on
Lafayette Square across from the
old State Department Building,
where for years Gen. Pershing had
Offices.
The suite there had been the
Offices of Josephus Daniels, World
War I Secretary of the Navy. before
it was turned over to Gen. Pershing.
1t contained his private files,
momentoes and library. 1t was
there he did his work as chairman
of the American Battle Monuments
Commission, q post which took him
on several trips to France and
which he still held at the time of
his death.
Quarters Moved to Pentagon.
Last fall the generals effects were
packed up and moved to new quar-
tiers in the Pentagon. Col. George
E. Adamson, Gen. Pershing's Sec
rotary who had been associated with
the aged commander since 1916,
said, I'VE did not inform the general
of the change. because We try not
to burden him any more than
necessary"
When he was Chief of Stan Gen.
Pershing was entitled to live in the
big comfortable house at Fort Myer,
but he turned 1t over instead to his
deputy.
It was characteristic Of Gen.
Pershing's mistaken modesty that
despite all the decorations awarded
him by his own and allied govern
lments, and Of an the campaign rib
bops he was entitled to wear, he
rarely appeared with any decora-
ton whatever on the breast Of his
tunic. When the Unknown Soldier