John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing - Arlington VA - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

General Pershing is buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Section 34, Site S-19. His grave is surrounded by Soldiers graves who fought with him in World War I.

Description: From Find A Grave: United States Army General. He is remembered world-wide for serving from 1917 to 1918 as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front during World War I. Born in Laclede, Missouri, he was the son of a railroad switchman. At the age of 17, he taught in a rural school for African-American children to earn enough money to pay for his college education at Kirksville Normal School, which is now Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. In 1881, answering an advertisement for the United States Military Academy's entrance exam, he sat for the exam earning an entry to West Point in 1882. Graduating 30th out of 70 students, he also was president of his class and captain of cadets. He received his commission in the cavalry and was ordered to the Western frontier, fighting in the Apache campaign in New Mexico and Arizona under the command of General Nelson A. Miles and earning his first combat citation. During this time, he participated in the famous Massacre at Wounded Knee. From 1891 until 1895, he served as a professor of military science at the University of Nebraska, while receiving a law degree. Later he returned to the United States Military Academy as a tactical officer. As part of the Spanish-American War, he was sent to the Philippines in 1898 where he earned a Silver Star. He organized the Insular Bureau, under which the affairs of the Philippine Islands and Puerto Rico are still administered. In 1899, as a captain, he returned to the Philippines where he put down an uprising of the Moros and received the personal congratulations of Secretary of War Elihu Root. In 1904, he was assigned as military attaché of the American embassy in Tokyo, Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. The following year he returned to the United States nd married Helen Frances Warren, the daughter of United States Senator Francis E. Warren. In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt promoted him over 862 other officers, which prompted a great deal of professional resentment. The promotion raised rumors of favoritism and political dealing, fueled by the fact that his father-in-law was chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee. Regardless of the rumors, he continued to serve with great distinction and returned to the Philippines again as military commander and remained there until 1913. In January of 1914, he returned to the United States where President Woodrow Wilson assigned him under General Frederick Funston; Wilson then ordered him to "pursue and disperse" Pancho Villa and his band of Mexican guerrillas. Leaving his family at the Presidio in San Francisco, California, he went to El Paso, Texas, to coordinate his campaign. Prior to beginning this campaign, he received word his wife and three daughters died in a house fire. Only his 6-year-old son had survived from the heroics of the family's maid. Due to this tragic personal loss, he left his duties, but only long enough to see to the burial of his family, then returned and pressed on with his assignment. Though he failed to capture Villa, he effectively stopped Villa's terrorism and earned himself a promotion to Major General. It was also during this campaign that he earned the nickname "Black Jack" by commanding, and advocating, the 10th Calvary, a distinguished regiment of black troops, often called the "Buffalo Soldiers." Once he returned to Washington D.C. in 1917, and due to the sudden death of General Funston, President Wilson, on the advice of his military attaché, Major Douglas McArthur, named him to command the American Expeditionary Forces being sent to France after America's declaration of war on Germany. The army he was to command did not exist yet; his task was to create it. One of his first actions upon arriving in France was to pay respects at the tomb of the Marquis de Lafayette. As he laid a wreath on the French soldier's grave, his aide announced, "Lafayette, we are here!" This signified to the French people that America was r Date of birth: 09/13/1860 Date of death: 07/15/1948 Area of notoriety: Military Marker Type: Headstone Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: None Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

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Date Logged Log   10/10/2021 Don.Morfe visited it