On this day in history, June 1st, 1918, known as “The day the Yanks saved Paris”, may God stir in our hearts to remember and appreciate the man who was responsible for most, if not all, of the American army’s success in the Great War, General of the Armies, John Joseph Pershing.
It has been evidenced that in our culture, past and present, we Americans tend to lift up certain people who, as mere humans, possess beauty, charm, charisma; the ones who wow and amaze us with their athletic ability, dazzle us with talent, or steal our devotion with brilliant screenplay. Certainly, these feats are praiseworthy, but do we admire men and women who possess character? The citizens who may not have temporary attributes, but contain something far more eternal?
General John Joseph Pershing, commander of American forces in World War One, is a stark example. A man mostly ignored -and widely unknown – by the public. of course, we record his name in history books, but only as cold, emotionless fact, when justly he should be revered as one of the greatest generals to ever put on a uniform. During his younger years, his experience in the American west, Cuba, and the Philippines, his character was proved several times.
One instance, when he was a junior officer fresh out of West Point, Pershing had been stationed in New Mexico. Left to the quiet boredom of the desert, he and his men began to play poker. Pershing, who was only a beginner, quickly improved so much that he stopped, knowing that the game would distract him, and he would become addicted to it.
While he was in the military, Pershing developed two sides of his personality. On one side John “Jack” Pershing was a very likable guy who loved merry-making and dancing (he was very well-liked by the ladies). But few people saw this side of Pershing; instead, what his troops and the public ever viewed was General Pershing, a strict disiplinarian who expected everything from his command. Even in the thick of conflict, Pershing would make sure his men shaved everyday. The General did this because he believed that the neater and tidier a soldier’s uniform and gear was the better he would perform in battle.
When the U.S. entered World War One in 1917, President Wilson appointed him commander of the U.S. Army over many other candidates. He brought the same habits and mentality to Europe, where the British and the French had fought for three terrible, casualty-heavy years. When Pershing arrived he was approached by several other Allied commanders, demanding that he submit to their master plan for the Americans called Amalgamation, which fundamentally meant using U.S. troops to fill British and French ranks. General Pershing resolutely refused, knowing that for the entire war they had been fighting defensive battles that had gotten them nowhere.
He instead took on the monumental task of equipping and managing a separate American army that needed forty-five thousand tons of supplies a day. Pershing wisely chose trusted friends and advisers to help him with tasks he didn’t have time for.
Strict as always, the General devoted himself to making sure his men had the training and direction they needed to pravail against the Germans. After several successful battles, in which American soldiers proved their resilience in combat, Pershing’s troops, more than a million men, prepared to go through the Argonne Forest. An infantry’s nightmare compounded because of German snipers, traps, and machine guns. The Americans pushed through. fighting heavy artillery fire, pouring rain, and muddy roads.
Even more challenging then enemy bullets was sickness. Thousands of men went down ill and when the Argonne campaign ended, more soldiers had died from influenza than from battle. Pershing himself suffered from it, along with a horrible toothache. When the dentist offered him morphine to relieve the pain, General Pershing turned him down, saying “I have too much need of all my senses”(John Perry, Pershing, Commander of the Great War.Ibid).
Through all this, U.S. soldiers persevered, coming out of the Argonne forest at the end of October battered, but still intact. From that point on, the German army was in full retreat and on November 11, 1918 at 11:00 a.m. the fighting stopped and the World War One was over. Unfortunately, heads in Washington agreed to an armistice, and General Pershing hated the fact that thousands of lives had been given for only an ineffectual armistice, and not complete and unconditional surrender. He knew that this decision would eventually allow Germany to recover from her losses and rise to attack again.
Pershing deeply cared for his men and grieved for the ones lost in battle. He respected the men that he commanded to the point that he wished to be buried with them in Arlington cemetery. When he died in 1948, his desire was fulfilled and the same plain white marble headstone that adorned the plot of any other soldier was placed on his grave. This act attested to his humility. Even though, after World War One, he had been promoted to the highest rank possible, General of the Armies (matched only by George Washington), he wanted to be remembered as a man who did his duty for his country and nothing more.
When he led his fighting men in the Philippines against the Moros, he was to be awarded with a Medal of Honor; however, the then Captain Pershing heard about it he stopped the process, recalling a lesson he learned in Cuba that a fighting commander stays with his men. As far as he was concerned, he saw a need and met it. Pershing’s devotion to his troops and his fidelity to his country should be a challenge to our character and an inspiration to us all.
P.S. If you would like to learn more about this fascinating man, read John Perry’s Pershing, Commander of the Great War.
My thanks to John Adam McFarland for letting me share his article on Drawn To His Light.
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