The Board of Governors and members of The Leash in New York note with profound sadness the passing of their fellow clubman, Colonel John Warren Pershing III. United States Army Reserve Retired on June 23, 1999.

Colonel John W. Pershing
Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, 1964
Distinguished Service to the Alma Mater

Colonel John Warren Pershing, the grandson of General of the Armies John J. Pershing, received his B.A. degree in English and was commissioned in the United States Army as a distinguished military graduate of the University's Army ROTC Program.  He completed infantry and military intelligence courses and reported for duty with the 10th Special Forces Group in Germany in 1965 and became its executive officer and then company commander. 

Since 1967, when he left active duty and  joined the United States Army Reserve, he has held many key command and staff positions and spent considerable time on active duty as an Individual Mobilization Augmentee.  As special assistant to Army Chief of Staff General Gordon R. Sullivan, he helped shape Army and Army ROTC programs.  He is presently commander of the 77th Infantry Division at Fort Potter, New York.  He has received nineteen service medals, decorations, and badges, including the Defense and Army Meritorious Service Medals, the Joint and Army Commendation Medals, and the Joint and Army Achievement Medals. In civilian life he is president and chief executive officer of Arms and the Man, Ltd., an exotic arms company.  Colonel Pershing established the Pershing ROTC Scholarship Fund at Boston University and maintains an active interest in Army ROTC at the University.   The Army ROTC building on campus is named in his honor.

John Warren Pershing commands the 77th Infantry Division, a reserve training unit based at Fort Totten in Flushing, New York. He was commissioned in the U.S. Army after graduating from BU's Army ROTC program in 1964, then served in a Special Forces group stationed in Germany. In 1967 he joined the Army Reserve, where he has held key command and staff positions. As a special assistant to Army Chief of Staff General Gordon R. Sullivan, he helped define a new role for the Army Reserve as the active military was downsized.

Pershing, who is a longtime friend of Boston University's Army ROTC program, is the grandson of General John J. Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in Europe during World War I. His previous honors include a Meritorious Service Medal with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, and a National Defense Service Medal with One Bronze Service Star.

Colonel John Warren Pershing (CAS'64), a longtime friend of BU's Army ROTC program and a member of the Veteran Corps of Artillery, State of New York, and the Society of Cincinnati, died June 23, 1999 after a battle with vascular disease.

Following service as an enlisted man in the U.S. Marine Corps, Pershing was a distinguished ROTC military graduate from Boston University and was commissioned in the U.S. Army, retiring after 35 years of service, in 1998. He was a private investigator in civilian life.

A graduate of the Army War College, he had served in the 10th Special Forces Group in Germany -- becoming its executive officer and then  company commander -- and on the staff of the secretary of defense and had held key command and staff positions in the Army Reserve. As a special assistant to Army Chief of Staff Gordon R. Sullivan, he helped define a new role for the Army Reserve as the active military was downsized.

His honors include a Meritorious Service Medal with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, an Army Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, a Joint Service Achievement Medal, and a National Defense Service Medal with One Bronze Service Star. 

Pershing was the grandson of General of the Armies John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. His brother, Richard Warren Pershing, was killed in action during the Vietnam War.

A service was held on June 28 in New York City. He was interred at Arlington National Cemetery. He leaves his wife, Sandra Sinclair Pershing, two stepdaughters, Alyson Lloyd Taylor and Robin M. Lloyd, and a granddaughter, Hollis C. Taylor.

Pershing House, BU's Army ROTC offices at 128 Bay State Road, is named for him. "I can't help but come back with warm fuzzies, particularly with my name on the door," he said during the 1996 Homecoming Weekend dedication, shortly after he and his wife endowed a scholarship. The following year he received an Alumni Award for distinguished service to alma mater.

Contributions may be made in his memory to the Pershing ROTC Scholarship Fund at Boston University, 128 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215.

Colonel Pershing was buried in Section 34 of Arlington National Cemetery in the same gravesite as his grandfather and brother.

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Photo Courtesy of the United States Army