An Old Soldier

One time I mentioned Pershing Rifles to one of the agents in my real estate office, Lloyd, who was a World War II and Korean War veteran.   He immediately wanted to tell me this story.  

Lloyd told me that at one point after World War II he was stationed in Washington DC and for a while was a courier who had to go to Walter Reed Hospital every week day.  The first day he arrived at Walter Reed (a Monday), he was greeted by an older man in a hospital robe.  He asked Lloyd where he was going and then took him to his destination and then back to the interest.  When Lloyd asked about him, he said that he was "just an old soldier" and that he was there for some tests.  Each day that week, the older man was there greeting him and walking with him.  By Friday, Lloyd felt that he had made a friend in this old soldier (that's normal with Lloyd, he makes friends every where).

The next Monday when he got to Walter Reed, the older man wasn't there.  He was concerned that something had happened to him, so he asked a nurse what had happened to the older man that had walked with him each day the week before.  The nurses response was, "You mean General Pershing?"

I couldn't believe that I actually knew someone who met General Pershing and felt like he had made a friend.

Note: Before I wrote this story, I checked on the biography of General Pershing on the Pershing Rifles website to make sure he really was alive at the time.  He was.  I also had a real surprise while reading it.  General Pershing's parents were married in Warrenton, Missouri.  I've been there many times since 1980 when I first moved to the St. Louis area!

Linda

Return to the CAPER main page.  Return to the Pershing Rifles main page.