Everett T. Tomlinson

One of the most striking elements in the grip which General Pershing has upon his soldiers is well shown by the following extract from a letter which a quiet, unknown doughboy recently sent from France to his mother: "I think I forgot to tell you that Pershing looked us over. He is a wonderful man to look at. Power is written all over his face. Believe me, with a man like that in the lead we ought to win, hands down. Just one look commands respect and confidence."

One reason for this confidence doubtless is the frequently expressed opinion which the commander also has of his men. Again and again he has publicly declared that the idealism of the American soldier boys was bound to win this war. "They will defend these ideals at any sacrifice." And those who are aware of the spirit of many a young American student in college or worker on some quiet farm, will understand why General Pershing has made so much of this idealism which he says is the backbone of the American fighting men in France.

It is not only the General, but the man Pershing behind the General that makes its appeal and finds its response from the American boys. In every Y. M. C. A. hut in France to-day there is hanging a picture of the leader of the American armies. Underneath this picture are the following words, which bear his own signature:

"Hardship will be your lot but trust in God will give you comfort. Temptation will befall you but the teaching of our Saviour will give you strength. Let your valor as a soldier and your conduct as a man be an inspiration to your comrades and an honor to your country."

The meaning of these words perhaps becomes more apparent if for a moment they are placed in contrast with the reported relations existing between the German soldiers and their officers, sometimes driven into battle by brutal methods, threatened, kicked and beaten, and if they protested, sometimes the gunners were chained to their guns—small cause for surprise is it that the American boys fail to appreciate the "blessings" of autocracy or are determined that the brutality and aims of all war lords shall forever perish from the earth.

Then, too, his personal interest in the young American fighter who has done something to deserve recognition is one of his elements of strength. There must, however, first have been given an indication that the deed was worthy of praise—for General Pershing's commendation is not cheap nor does he scatter it promiscuously. The following incident may be looked upon as typical

John Kulolski, born in Poland, emigrant to the United States, enlisted at Buffalo, New York, June 7, 1916. In the following year, on his birthday, he reËnlisted and on the same month and day in 1918 he was sent to the trenches. Indeed, he declared that his birthday "always brought something great into his life." His first service in the army was as a cook, but at his own request he was transferred to the fighting forces. Cooking might be necessary, but it was "too slow for him." Soon in the Bois de Belleau he found his opportunity. The fighting was savage and John Kulolski's company was in peril from a nearby gunners' nest. Suddenly, without orders and with the new spirit of initiative which had been acquired by the young Pole in America, he darted ahead alone, and by the sheer force of his own impetuous act charged the gun and made prisoners of the gun crew and its officer. Doubtless his very daring caused his enemies to believe that he was not alone but was one of many who were about to attack them. At all events the Germans surrendered to John Kulolski and his bravery was quickly known all along the line.

To him as soon as he heard of his daring deed General Pershing sent the following telegram from headquarters:

"I have just heard of your splendid conduct on June 6th when you alone charged a gun, captured it and its crew, together with an officer. I have awarded you the Distinguished Service Cross. I congratulate you.

"Pershing."

Who does not know that Kulolski's deed and the commander's quick and personal as well as official recognition of the heroism of this private soldier at once aroused a spirit of gratitude and enthusiasm not only in the heart of the young Pole, but also caused a thrill in the heart of every doughboy in the ranks that heard the story?

From Paris, July 22, 1918, the Associated Press sent the following despatch:

General Pershing thus addressed wounded American soldiers lying in the American Red Cross hospitals in Paris to-day. In each ward of every hospital he talked to the men. He inquired if they were being well cared for, how and where they were wounded, what regiments they belonged to, and expressed his sympathy to scores of patients.

General Pershing also talked to the physicians, surgeons, and nurses, and thanked them for the work they were doing in caring for the wounded.

"No one can ask of any fighting force more than that they should do as well as you have done," he said to his troops. The General added that he wished he could speak personally with each and every man in the hospital, but this was impossible. So he asked Major James H. Perkins to repeat his message and say to each individual man, "The American people are proud of you."

It is a very devoted and democratic army which General Pershing commands in France. Those who know him personally have a deep affection for him for they understand what he is. Those who do not have a personal acquaintance admire him no less for what they believe him to be. It is a common remark in the ranks, even by those who never even saw their leader, "What a fine man Pershing is." His nickname "Black Jack" is an expression of admiration and affection, as much so as when the French poilus tenderly refer to "Papa" Joffre.

Whenever General Pershing in his scattered duties arrives at a place where there are wounded American soldiers he never fails to find a few brief minutes when he can visit these boys and speak a word of affectionate appreciation of what they have done. It is usually, however, not to his own but to his country's pride and sympathy that he refers. "Your country is proud of you." Sometimes it is just a handclasp, sometimes only a glance from his dark eyes, expressive of the deep interest and pride in his soldier boys that he can give the wounded. He is a man of few words and as a consequence every spoken word counts.

A direct report states that "faces are brighter, eyes have a new expression whenever, which is as often as the crush of his duties permits—he visits a hospital."

One further incident will illustrate the many-sided activities of the American General. One evening at a certain nameless point he found that he had a very few minutes free before his automobile was to rush him to the next place he was to visit. Instantly he decided to visit the Y. M. C. A. hut. As he drew near he found that a couple of hundred boys were in the building and that someone was "banging the piano" with a furious rag-time. Hobnailed shoes were noisily keeping time to the music and the lusty voices of the shouting and singing young soldiers were plainly heard far beyond the building. Not one of the boys was aware that the commander was anywhere in the vicinity.

Suddenly a yell arose near the entrance. Instantly every soldier turned to discover the cause of the break. "General Pershing" ran as a loud whisper throughout the assembly and instantly every one of the assembled doughboys sprang to his feet and stood at attention. Then no longer able to repress or restrain their feelings they united in such an enthusiastic yell as might have revealed their presence to an enemy if he was not too far away.

Quickly the General was in the midst of the throng and was telling his admirers just how he had "dropped in to see how they were getting along." He was delighted, he told them, to find everything in good order and expressed his deep satisfaction with the manner in which they were doing their part in the gigantic struggle. "Your country is proud of you."

Small cause for wonder is it that it is currently reported that "no army ever went to the battlefield better protected against the pitfalls of army life than the American forces in France." Every friendly and helpful activity receives his cordial support—Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., Knights of Columbus, Salvation Army and all. He is deeply concerned not only with the quality and quantity of the work in France but also with the reports that are to go back home concerning what the boys are doing on the far distant fields of France. Still more is he concerned about the effects of their stay upon the boys themselves. "Everything possible is being done to see that these young Americans who will return home some day shall go back clean."

He is deeply interested in all the athletics and sports of his troops. He simply is insistent upon one main quality, "everything must be clean."

A certain reporter for a New York newspaper sends the following incident:

One day General Pershing arrived at a station where a motley crowd greeted his coming. The following day there was posted on a bulletin board of the barracks a cordial commendation of the young French officer who had so efficiently done his duty at the station in handling the somewhat unruly assembly at the arrival of the American commander and his staff. That is General Pershing's way. Quietly cordial, looking for good in every one of his men and usually finding it, a strict disciplinarian and quick to punish neglect or an evil deed, he is the idol of the army.

"General Pershing is one of the finest men I ever met. Everybody in the army admires him greatly," declares a prominent American officer, and another adds, "I have never met a nobler man in my life than General Perching."

According to a statement of an orderly sergeant of the commander, the General has a regular order for beginning the work of every day. Rising at five o'clock there is first a half hour of setting up exercises which the two men take together. Next the General, although he is at an age when most men abandon running except as a necessity or a last resort, goes out for a run of fifteen minutes. Later there is a united attack upon the medicine ball and there is no slight or "ladylike" exercise. Although the sergeant is twenty-five years younger than the General, he acknowledges that he is usually the first to declare that he has had sufficient for the beginning of the day.

The hour of retirement is usually eleven o'clock, and just before that time there are more setting up exercises, after which the sergeant says he himself is entirely reconciled to the suggestion to turn in.

In this way and because he has followed this somewhat strenuous plan since he was a young man General Pershing has kept himself in magnificent physical condition.

Indeed, the sergeant said that in the ten years during which he had been the commander's orderly he has never known but one day when the General was incapacitated for his duties. That day was in the early rush of the punitive expedition into Mexico to get Villa. The change of water or perhaps the quality of it made him ill, but even then, in spite of the surgeon's advice for him to remain quietly in his tent for a day or two, General Pershing, unmindful of the influence of his example, "disobeyed orders" and resumed his work. Fortunately no ill effects followed his disobedience.

A tender touch in the sergeant's statement is one upon which we have no right to enlarge though the fact is as suggestive as it is characteristic. The first duty of the orderly in unpacking the General's belongings when they move to new quarters is to take the photograph of Mrs. Pershing and the four children as the family was before that terrible fire in the Presidio, and place it on a desk or bureau where it is easily seen. Often the General sits in silence before it, and as he looks at the family group, the sergeant believes that, for the time, the tragedy is forgotten and to the silent soldier his family again seems to be complete. It is an occasion into which an outsider, however, has no right to enter and however strong may be his sympathy, the sorrow is too intensely personal for even a close friend to obtrude.

In the letter which General Pershing wrote from Mindanao to his classmates on the occasion of their twenty-fifth anniversary of their graduation from West Point he lightly referred to his difficulties in acquiring French. In view of his ancestry, for his name and lineage can be traced back to Alsace, this at first may appear somewhat strange; but the statement is his own. However, when he first went to France his fluency in the language of the people of that country was not sufficient to satisfy him and an interpreter was provided, who usually was present when he met with French officers who were as ignorant of his language as he was of theirs. In a brief time, however, the interpreter was discarded. General Pershing, in spite of the difficulty of acquiring a new language when one is older, was soon conversing in their own tongue with Marshal Joffre, General Petain and General Foch. Just what the opinion of his accent was we do not know and they doubtless were too polite to express it. The essential point, however, is that just as the American Commander years before had learned the language of the Moros in order to assist him in his task of dealing with the little brown people, so he resolutely set to work to learn French, at least to an extent that enabled him to understand what was said in his presence and to express himself to his friends without the aid of an interpreter.

Not long before the raid upon Columbus by Villa and his bandits General Pershing, in a letter from which the following extract is taken, wrote: "We do not want war if we can honestly avoid it, but we must not hesitate to make war if the cause of civilization and progress demands it. Nearly every step in human progress has been at the sacrifice of human life. There are some things dearer even than life. If a nation has set up high ideals either for itself or for others it must be prepared to enforce those ideals if need be by armies and navies. Of course it would be better to enforce them through moral prestige." These sentiments were expressed long before the declaration of war with Germany or the President had written his famous words about making the world safe for democracy. They are doubly interesting for that reason and expressive of General Pershing's innermost feelings when there was every reason why he should express himself freely. Most brilliant American fighters have not been lovers of war for its own sake. Washington was reluctant to enter upon war, although when he believed there was no escape he fought to the uttermost limit of his power. General Grant's most frequently quoted words are not warlike, but "Let us have peace." And General Pershing is not one whit behind the other two.

Early in July, 1918, Chairman Hurley sent a cablegram to the American fighting men in France that the shipbuilders at home would launch one hundred merchant ships July 4th. Promptly from General Pershing came the following appreciative and defiant acknowledgment: "The launching of one hundred ships on the Fourth of July is the most inspiring news that has come to us. All ranks of the Army in France send their congratulations and heartfelt thanks to their patriotic brothers in the ship-yards at home. No more defiant answer could be given to the enemy's challenge. With such backing we cannot fail to win. All hail American shipbuilders."

His quick sense of appreciation is seen also in the following telegram which he sent Premier Clemenceau after the hearty congratulations sent by the great Frenchman on the occasion of the parade of American troops in Paris in the celebration of the Fourth of July:

One day in France he saw two American soldiers at work on a woodpile. One glance was sufficient to show him that the two men were working out a form of punishment for some misdeed. As we know General Pershing is a believer in strict and if necessary stern discipline. Soon after coming to France he had ordered one American soldier to be hanged for a nameless crime and several others to be disciplined severely for drunkenness. Believing in the best and hoping and expecting the good in every one of his men to manifest itself, nevertheless he is severe when severity is demanded. And he was at once interested when he first saw the two American boys at the woodpile, manifestly serving a sentence of some kind.

Stopping his automobile, General Pershing sent his orderly to find out what the offense was for which the two soldiers were serving their sentence. Upon the orderly's return he reported that the two men had taken "French leave" of their company several days before this time. They were jealous because certain of their fellows "had been sent up ahead to fight" while they had been left behind. And they were eager to fight. They had enlisted and come to France for that express purpose. And now to be left behind! The thought was more than the two Yankee boys could endure. Fight they could and fight they would—with or without specific orders from their officers. And fight they did, for without any ceremony they departed for the front one night and kept on going until they found it. According to their own story they "found war and mixed in." And also they were found out and sentenced to serve five days at the woodpile as a penalty for their disobedience and over-hasty zeal. It is said General Pershing hastily departed from the spot and that he laughed heartily at the story of Americans who were punished not because they were not willing to fight, but were so eager that they did not wait for such a little thing as orders or commands. And then the General fell to talking about his favorite theme—the daring and bravery of his men in the campaign against the Moros.

One day in Paris, General Pershing saw a tiny man—a dwarf—upon the sidewalk of the street through which he was passing at the time. The little man instantly recalled to the commander the wedding of Datto Dicky of Jolo. The little chieftain was about to be married. There was a current report that he was the smallest man in the world, but the statement has not been verified. At all events, whatever he may have lacked in stature he more than made up in his power over the tribe of which he was a chief.

At a fair in Zamboanga, Datto Dicky was about to take unto himself a wife, the little lady being as diminutive as her prospective husband. After the formal wedding General Pershing presented to the bride a tiny house in every way adapted to the needs of such a diminutive couple. The dwelling stood on stilts on the beach, a thing of beauty in the eyes of all the Moros that were attending the fair.

The tiny chieftain and his bride gratefully accepted the present of the little building, which they occupied during their honeymoon. Upon their return to Jolo they in turn gave their present to the children of the General and they used it as a playhouse. As Datto Dicky is said to have been just two feet and three inches in height the little children of the American governor doubtless found the structure much to their liking and well adapted to their needs. They were as delighted over Dicky's generosity to them as the diminutive chieftain had been over the unexpected gift their father had given him.

The following incidents are taken from the New York Times: