Date of Birth
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13-September-1860
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Place of Birth
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Laclede
(United States of America, Missouri, Linn County)
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Nationality
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United States of America, Germany
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Also know as
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Gen. John J. Pershing, John Joseph Pershing, Black Jack Pershing, John Pershing, John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, Black Jack, General Pershing, General J.J. "Black Jack" Pershing, Pershing, J.J. "Black Jack"
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Profession
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Soldier
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John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing is the only person to be promoted in his own lifetime to the highest rank ever held in the United States Army—General of the Armies. Pershing holds the first United States officer service number. He was regarded as a mentor by the generation of American generals who led the United States Army in Europe during World War II, including George C. Marshall, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar N. Bradley, and George S. Patton. A somewhat controversial figure, his tactics have been harshly criticized both by commanders at the time and by modern historians. His reliance on costly frontal assaults, long after other allied armies had abandoned such tactics, has been accused of causing unnecessarily high American casualties.
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