General Pershing decorating officers of 89th Div., Trier, Germany

General Pershing decorating officers of 89th Div., Trier, Germany

V19230

The commanding general of the A. E. F., General John J. Pershing, is pinning on the tunics of these boys the ribboned medals that are their reward for courage and valor on the field of battle. At the left of the General is one of his aides with a list of the men and the decorations that are to be theirs. In the rear of the General is another American officer conferring with an officer of the French artillery. You know that he is of the artillery by the crossed cannon on his helmet. Without asking you can tell that the "order of the day" required gloves, that gas masks were to be worn on the right hip, that web belts and pistols were to take the place of Sam Browne belts. The officer nearest to you wears service chevrons for eighteen months, three of them. He is an officer of the artillery as the crossed cannons on his collar denote. Next to him is a medical officer, you can see the insignia of his corps, the caduceus, in bronze on his collar. By the crossed rifles you can see that the next three are infantrymen, all with a single chevron denoting six months' service, and farther along the line you can see one of the men with the Distinguished Service Cross with its red, white and blue ribbon pinned to his breast. And on the shoulder straps of General Pershing's tunic there are four stars which he can now wear for the rest of his life since Congress has made his rank of General permanent.

1 stereograph : b&w

1 gelatine silver print stereograph (8 x 15 cm) mounted on card (9 x 18 cm)

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World War through the stereoscope