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If General John J. Pershing could somehow make an appearance for his 150th birthday celebration this weekend, he might be a little put off by the bronze statue erected in his honor in Jefferson City and moved to the Boyhood Home in Laclede where it has remained for the past 42 years. Although a man of Gen. Pershing’s stature could not help being portrayed larger than life, he wanted no more accolades than those reserved for any common soldier. When it was suggested to Gen. Pershing that he be the subject of some grand monument for posterity he replied, “The greatest honor the nation could give me is the simple headstone given to every soldier of the Great War. My greatest hope is that I can lay with my boys until the last trumpet sounds, and I can lead them to the final victory.” He felt that the only occasion that warranted him being placed ahead of his men was to lead them into battle as “the tip of the spear.”
General Pershing’s affinity for the common man and his courage to fight while others made speeches is exemplified in an anecdote recounted by Gen. George S. Patton. As a green 1st Lieutenant stationed at Fort Bliss, TX. in 1916, Patton caught wind of the plan to capture the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa that materialized as the Punitive Expedition, as well as the fact his unit wasn’t going. World War I Historian and Pershing Boyhood Home Administrator Denzil Heaney explains that Patton literally camped out on Pershing’s doorstep at Fort Bliss, but was initially placated by the General who asked, “Why should I favor you?” However, like Patton, Pershing had been an instructor at West Point and was empathetic; a policy had been instituted forbidding instructors from going to war. Patton would later write in his memoirs, “In 1898 Lt. Pershing used every normal means to secure an exception and finally went AWOL to Washington where, by a line of talk similar to the one I employed on him in 1916, he secured a detail to Cuba.” By 1916, Pershing had already, while serving during the Spanish American War, been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry and called “the coolest man under fire I ever saw” by his commanding general. Pershing, in short, led from the front, wasn’t interested in making eloquent speeches or playing politics, and in Heaney’s words, “always strove to reach out to the common man.” Gen. Pershing once met a private in the trenches in France who had been delivered to foster care by an orphan train as a child and was regarded by his superiors as worthless. Gen. Pershing promoted the young man to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on the spot and, as Heaney explains, “because the General could see the soldier’s value to the overall effort of the American Expeditionary Force, he helped him see his own worth.” The Pershing Boyhood Home Administrator adds, “Pershing loved the law and education because they were a source of power for the powerless.”
See today's LCL for the full story
If General John J. Pershing could somehow make an appearance for his 150th birthday celebration this weekend, he might be a little put off by the bronze statue erected in his honor in Jefferson City and moved to the Boyhood Home in Laclede where it has remained for the past 42 years. Although a man of Gen. Pershing’s stature could not help being portrayed larger than life, he wanted no more accolades than those reserved for any common soldier. When it was suggested to Gen. Pershing that he be the subject of some grand monument for posterity he replied, “The greatest honor the nation could give me is the simple headstone given to every soldier of the Great War. My greatest hope is that I can lay with my boys until the last trumpet sounds, and I can lead them to the final victory.” He felt that the only occasion that warranted him being placed ahead of his men was to lead them into battle as “the tip of the spear.”
General Pershing’s affinity for the common man and his courage to fight while others made speeches is exemplified in an anecdote recounted by Gen. George S. Patton. As a green 1st Lieutenant stationed at Fort Bliss, TX. in 1916, Patton caught wind of the plan to capture the Mexican bandit Pancho Villa that materialized as the Punitive Expedition, as well as the fact his unit wasn’t going. World War I Historian and Pershing Boyhood Home Administrator Denzil Heaney explains that Patton literally camped out on Pershing’s doorstep at Fort Bliss, but was initially placated by the General who asked, “Why should I favor you?” However, like Patton, Pershing had been an instructor at West Point and was empathetic; a policy had been instituted forbidding instructors from going to war. Patton would later write in his memoirs, “In 1898 Lt. Pershing used every normal means to secure an exception and finally went AWOL to Washington where, by a line of talk similar to the one I employed on him in 1916, he secured a detail to Cuba.” By 1916, Pershing had already, while serving during the Spanish American War, been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry and called “the coolest man under fire I ever saw” by his commanding general. Pershing, in short, led from the front, wasn’t interested in making eloquent speeches or playing politics, and in Heaney’s words, “always strove to reach out to the common man.” Gen. Pershing once met a private in the trenches in France who had been delivered to foster care by an orphan train as a child and was regarded by his superiors as worthless. Gen. Pershing promoted the young man to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on the spot and, as Heaney explains, “because the General could see the soldier’s value to the overall effort of the American Expeditionary Force, he helped him see his own worth.” The Pershing Boyhood Home Administrator adds, “Pershing loved the law and education because they were a source of power for the powerless.”
See today's LCL for the full story
