John Pershing

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John Pershing
Lauri Gauthier Justine Jacobs
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John Joseph Pershing

• Born on December 13, 1860.
• He was born in Laclede, Missouri.

• John began his career as a schoolteacher in
  Missouri.
• A notice in the paper inspired him to enroll in
  the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New
  York.
• By his last year, he had earned the honor of
  being chosen first captain of the Corps of
  Cadets.
• He graduated from West Point in 1886 with an
  outstanding record.

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After the war

• His later military postings and combat
  experiences in places such as Cuba and Mexico
  provided him with valuable knowledge.
• During the First World War General John Pershing
  was the commander of the American Expeditionary
  Force (AEF) in Europe.
• After the war he was promoted to general of the
  armies, a position previously held only by George
  Washington.
• Toward the end of his life he spent a great deal
  of time writing his memoirs, My Experiences in
  the World War, which won the Pulitzer Prize for
  history in 1932.

4
Death

• He died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in
  Washington on July 15, 1948.
• His funeral service, one of only a hand full ever
  held at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington
  National Cemetery, was attended by literally
  thousands of American citizens as well as by the
  leaders of government and the military.
• He was buried, as was his wish, under a simple
  white gravestone in Section 34 of Arlington
  National Cemetery, near the gravesites of his
  "Doughboys" from World War I.

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Time in the military

• Feb 2, 1901, Pershing was made Captain and was
  transferred to the 1st Cavalry.
• Request was granted for Pershing to be
  transferred to the 15th cavalry, stationed in the
  Philippines.
• After three and a half years of active service,
  before returning home, a movement was on among
  the officers in the Army to have Pershing made a
  Brigadier General as a due recognition of his
  services and hi demonstrated military ability.
• After Pershings first child, President Roosevelt
  made him a Brigadier General.
• Many found this unjust and all of his years of
  hard work were forgotten.
• Went back to the Philippines and was placed in
  command of Fort McKinley.
• Fall of 1908- when war seemed imminent in the
  Balkans, Pershing was directed to proceed to
  Paris and, if war came, to go as a military
  advisor.
• Remained in Paris for two months and because no
  Balkans materialized, he returned to the United
  States with his family is January 1909.

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• Pershing was again ordered to go to the
  Philippines due to the troublesome situation but
  he was unable to do so because of complications
  of malaria he had contracted in Cubs and the
  Philippines.
• Recovered from illness and sailed to the
  Philippines to take change of the Moro Province
  as Military Governor.
• The hostile Moros were disarmed under his
  leadership and peace had gradually restored
  itself.
• December 15, 1913 started to sail for the
  United States as all his work in the islands was
  now done
• 1913 General Huerta seized the reins of the
  Mexican Government. The US refused to recognize
  the new government and diplomatic relations were
  severed.
• After four years of active service about to sail
  home, General Pershing applied to the War
  Department for assignment to an active service in
  the event of hostilities with Mexico.

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Friendly T.L.S. to a friend, describing his
household staff and his summer spent with his
family, doing yard work, horseback riding, and
trying to stay at home VA, Aug. 7, 1928.

• December 20, 1913 Pershing arrived in Honolulu
  and received orders to report to the 8th Brigade
  at San Francisco
• After a year stay at Fort Bliss, Pershing decided
  to bring his family there
• Morning of August 27, 1915 Arrangements almost
  complete for his family and he received a
  telegram telling him of a fire in the Presidio in
  San Francisco, which had robbed him of his wife
  and three daughters.
• September 25, 1916 Pershing was made Major
  General
• February 5, 1917 the US declared war on Germany
• Sailed for Europe
• Most difficult tasks of his career Pershing
  needed to ask the allies to wait for the American
  Army that could possibly take a year to get into
  the field. The English and French did not want
  the army they wanted men.
• Assembled an American Army of 500,000 men

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• September of 1918 Pershing led his men in the
  reduction of the St. Mehiel Salient.
• First victory of the first United States Army in
  the first entirely U.S. operation.
• September 1919 Congress created the rank of
  General of the Armies
• Pershing was the highest ranking military officer
  in the U.S. history, outranking even Generals of
  the Army
• 1921 Appointed Chief of Staff
• Designed the new permanent framework of the U.S.
  Army
• 1924 Age 64, retired from active duty
• 1931 Published My Experiences in the World War
  winning the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1932

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• A statue of General John J. "Blackjack"
  Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary
  Force in Europe during World War I, is the
  centerpiece of Pershing Park across from Freedom
  Plaza at 14th Street.

• http//www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/aa
  /pershing
• http//www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWpershing.h
  tm
• http//www.arlingtoncemetery.net/johnjose.htm
• http//www.npg.si.edu/exh/marshall/persh.htm
• http//www.bookrags.com/biography/john-joseph-pers
  hing/
• http//www.lib.byu.edu/rdh/wwi/bio/p/pershing.htm
  l
• http//www.thebiographychannel.co.uk/new_site/biog
  raphy.php?id382showgroup
• http//www.who2.com/johnjpershing.html