General John "Blackjack" Pershing
General John Joseph Pershing was appointed commander in chief of the American Expetitionary Force that went to France in the First World War. He was a West Point graduate and was born 1860 in Linn County, Missouri. After his success, he was promoted to General of the Army; at the time the first person since George Washington.
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Most of the activity of the 17th Engineers (Railway) Regiment was in the St. Nazaire and Nantes areas. America sent 1,500 railroad locomotives and 18,000 freight cars to France in support the AEF. Combined Engineer units built 1,538 miles of standard and narrow-guage track to move war materials.
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