THE WALL OF FACES

2nd LIEUTENANT

RICHARD WARREN PERSHING


was attached to


COMPANY 'A'

502nd INFANTRY

101st AIRBORNE DIVISION

" THE SCREAMING EAGLES "


and was a posthumous recipient of the


PURPLE HEART



He was the grandson of

GENERAL OF THE ARMIES

JOHN JOSEPH " BLACK JACK " PERSHING


and today they both rest together, side by side, in


Section 34

Arlington National Cemetery





YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

NOR SHALL YOU EVER BE





21 JULY 1999

Richard is buried at Arlington Nat Cem, Arlington,VA.

dick was the leader of our infantry ocs class 47/67. an all american soccer player from yale and the grandson of black jack pershing. he wanted to be a combat leader and do his part for our country.dick had a great pride in the challenge and was a leader by example. i'm sure he was a fine platoon leader
in viet nam and took good care of his troops. dick was the first member of our class to be killed and he is buried in arlington near his grandfather. thanks for being a friend.

From a contemporary press report:

The 24-year-old grandson of John J. Pershing was killed-in-action in Vietnam on February 17, 1968, his parents reported yesterday. News of his death was carried to his home at 771 Park Avenue in New York on Sunday (February 18, 1968) by a special representative of the Secretary of Army. He went to Vietnam last December 13 with the 101st Airborne Division, and died Feb 17 from what the official telegram of notification described as "wounds received while on a combat mission when his unit came under hostile small-arms and rocket attack while searching for remains of a missing member of his unit."

His father, F. Warren Pershing, is the senior partner in Pershing & Co, stockbrokers. His grandfather, who commanded the American ExpeditionaryForce in World War I,
died in 1948 at age 88. His grandmother died in 1916. He was engaged last September to Shirley Hildreth Gay, a
member of editorial staff of VogueMagazine.

He was a graduate of Phillips Exter Academy and Yale College,where he was member of Skull and Bones, an undergraduate secret honors society. He completed training at Ft Benning,Georgia just before his engagement.

He was also the grandson of the late Mrs. Frederick Beckman and Mr. Frederick Lloyd Richards, both of New York. Senator Francis E. Warren of WY (Medal of Honor,in the Civil War) and Jules S. Bache were his great grandfathers. Oct 25, 1947-Feb 17, 1968.

He lies at rest in Section 34 of Arlington National Cemetery, next to his grandfather, John J. "Blackjack" Pershing.

And they said it was a "poor-man's" war!

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.com/richardw.htm

A friend of mine, Jack Hathaway, knew Mr. Pershing when they were stationed in Europe.
Pershing requested to be assigned to Vietnam and he was killed three months later. I know this is the same man since Jack told me he knew Richard and that he was the grandson of "Black Jack" Pershing. He seems to be the only Pershing in the database also.