GENERAL JOHN J. "BLACK JACK" PERSHING - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 01/24/1933 - HFSID 286201

JOHN J. PERSHING
TLS agreeing to lend his name to a committee dedicated to creating a monument to the memory of French Ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand, but attaching conditions
Typed Letter signed: "John J. Pershing", 1 page, 7¼x10½. Washington, D.C., 1933 January 24. On personal letterhead to William Francklyn Paris, New York City. In full: "Your kind letter of December 24th reached me in New York, where I had little opportunity or time to make reply. I am in entire agreement with the idea of having some sort of memorial to the memory of Ambassador Jusserand. As you say, his career was outstanding and he was in America long enough to become almost one of us. It was my pleasure to have him as a friend. As to becoming a member of the committee, however, that is quite difficult for me to do as I spend so little time at any one place and would have practically no opportunity to meet with the members. I notice that you give a list of Ambassador Jusserand's friends who have, no doubt, already consented to become members. With the understanding that nothing at all could be expected of me in connection with the duties of such a committee, I would be glad, of course, to have you put me on the list. This is with the further understanding that this committee shall not undertake to make any public appeal for contributions. I think your idea is a fine one, and congratulate you upon undertaking to carry it out. Yours very sincerely". John J. Pershing (1886-1948), a West Point graduate (1886), saw his first action against Geronimo's Apache Indians. Pershing led the 10th Cavalry, the famed African-American "Buffalo soldiers", in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, earning his enduring nickname, "Black Jack." Other combat commands included action against Moro insurgents in the newly annexed Philippine Islands and his politically constrained pursuit of Pancho Villa's raiders into northern Mexico. In 1917, after U.S. entry into World War I, Pershing was named, over several more senior U.S. generals, to command the American Expeditionary Force in France. There he organized the immense logistical effort to transport, equip and supply a 2.5 million man American army in Europe. He insisted that U.S. forces must fight as their own army, not be dispersed among British and French commands. This decision was vindicated when the major American victories of St. Mihiel and the Meuse Argonne (1918) helped turn the tide of war and hasten Germany's surrender. Promoted to General of the Armies and the Chief of Staff, Pershing served until 1924. His 1932 book, My Experiences in the World War, won a Pulitzer Prize. In 1940, with Europe again at war, the aged Pershing made a final important contribution to American security by strongly advocating active American support for beleaguered Britain. Ambassador Jean Jules Jusserand (1855-1932) represented France in the United States from 1902 to 1925. His book, With Americans of Past and Present Days won the first Pulitzer Prize in History. A pink memorial bench in honor of Jusserand was dedicated in Washington in 1936. It was the first monument to a foreign diplomat erected on federal property. Toned. 2 horizontal fold creases. Fine condition.