American Expeditionary Forces

Which U.S. general, nicknamed “Black Jack,” served as the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front during World War I?

I had a great-uncle who fought with the American Expeditionary Forces in France in World War I, serving in an ambulance unit that tended the wounded on the Western Front.

“Pershing” is General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, who pursued Pancho Villa’s forces along the U.S.-Mexico border a few years before going on to the “big show,” World War I. He led the American Expeditionary Forces on Europe’s Western Front in 1917 and 1918.

The only original nod to the war in the park, a statute of Gen. John J. Pershing, who commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe, will remain at the edge of the space.

The memorial, unveiled Friday, features a statue of Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces during the war; exhibits about the role of the U.S. in World War I; engraved quotes and references to the theaters, campaigns and battles Americans forces participated in; and the Peace Fountain, which is featured behind an excerpt from the poem “The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak” by Archibald MacLeish, according to the National Park Service.