Ernest Graves
[General John J.] Pershing. He commanded the lead engineer company. They built a
road into Mexico to support Pershing's cavalry. My father's company built this road
for the supply trucks along the trace of an existing trail.
That's the way he met Pershing, and that's the way he came to go to France. He went
to France on the Baltic, which was the ship that Pershing went over on.
Q:
So he requested your father?
A:
Yes. The minute my father heard about Pershing's being selected to command the AEF
[American Expeditionary Force], he sent a telegram. My father was down in Texas at
the time--maybe in San Antonio. He sent a telegram asking Pershing to consider him.
Pershing did request him, and my father went over on the Baltic with Pershing.
I won't take the time to tell about all his assignments, but the point is that most of his
life was spent out in the field.
Q:
Was that deliberate, do you think?
A:
Yes. That was what he was interested in. He wasn't a headquarters soldier. For
example, in France he started out on the staff, but very soon he left headquarters and
was put in charge of the construction program for the Intermediate Section.
The way our supply system was organized in France in World War I was not too
different from the way it was in World War II. We had an Advance Section, which was
the one that was up next to the combat zone. Then there was an Intermediate Section,
which had depots and railroads. Then there was the Base Section, which was along the
coast.
In World War I the Americans went in through Bordeaux. Bordeaux was the large port,
but from Bordeaux forward there was a whole network of railroads and depots handling
the flow of supplies.
My father was in charge of all the construction in the Intermediate Section. This is
where that famous story came from about building the warehouses. My father told them
to cut back on the amount of lumber and nails in the warehouses. And they did. They
were building a whole series of warehouses. Then he told them to cut back again. And
then he told them to cut back a third time. The people came in very concerned because
a warehouse had fallen down. My father said, "That's great. Add a pound of nails and
two boards and build the rest of them that way."
Q:
Where did you hear this story?
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