From a Photograph by Clinedinst
JOHN J. PERSHING
We have already heard how he had routed Villa's bandits in Mexico. He had also led a charge of colored troops against the Spaniards in Cuba, and had conquered a powerful savage tribe in the Philippines. Before he was sent to Mexico he had been governor of a province in the Philippines for four years.
Fights squarely
243. A Boy Who Was Made of Fighting Stuff. As a boy, Pershing was brave and modest, with the ability to stay by a hard task until he finished it. John was a hardy, active boy. He played at mimic war and attended school. He played "hookey," and got into fights with his fellows, but he was square. One day the father saw the signs of battle-torn clothes and a bruised face. "Been fighting? Never let any boy say that he has licked you," was the father's remark. John had expected a whipping.
At day school he was a plodder. But he did win a prize, a nicely bound volume of the Life of Washington. This was offered by the president of the school board. John's mother was there. The children clapped and called for a speech. "I'm sorry you didn't all win a prize. I'm going to grow up like Washington," he said.
Studies at West Point
In the 70's, when times were bad, John had to help earn the family living, and he did it by teaching some of the hardest schools in the district. He took the examinations for West Point when he was twenty, and defeated his friend. "I'm sorry you could not win too," he said. At the end of his first year at West Point he was made class leader, a position won only by hard study.