Another American hero buried at Arlington grew up in a humble Missouri cottage with 8 brothers and sisters. Following the Civil War, his father struggled to make ends meet running a small farm and occasionally working as a traveling salesman. 

In his early years, young John Pershing worked the farm and then became a teacher at a small rural school near his home.  He dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but with little chance for an advanced education, he answered an ad to take a test for West Point.  He won an appointment to the Military Academy by a single point in one subject – grammar – and thereafter achieved only marginal grades.  Still, Pershing went on to graduate with high honors because of his exceptional military and leadership skills. 

Thus began a storied military career during which General John J. Pershing would command millions of men in World War I and become the highest ranking officer in American military history, second only to George Washington.  Pershing’s final request before he died was that he be buried with the men he fought beside, and today -  like Audie Murphy - General John “Black Jack” Pershing is buried under simple, standard issue headstone.