Saturday, January 19, 2013

Pancho And Pershing...!

Sometimes the right folks can turn a blunder into a p.r. success! Pershing did just that!

I'm not sure why he came out of this looking like a hero, but it certainly didn't hurt his public image any! Guess he had the makings of a true politician. He would probably fit right in with the guys in D.C.

The Pancho Villa Expedition
1916



How many Americans does it take to catch a Mexican bandit? At least 5,000, because John Pershing and his 4,800 American troops spent the better part of 1916 chasing Pancho Villa around Northern Mexico with almost nothing to show for the effort.

Pershing spent eleven months trying to capture Villa who had been raiding American border towns. Despite failing to complete his sole objective, Pershing was undeterred and in an enormously ballsy PR move declared the mission a great learning experience (and thus actually a success). Apparently, Texans ate that “learning experience” garbage up, since Pershing’s expedition was greeted by large crowds and applause upon their rather un-victorious return to El Paso.

Guess I've going about things all wrong for a long time! Of course, I never wanted to be a general or a hero either!

Coffee outside again this morning. Gonna be another really nice day!

9 comments:

Ken said...

hmmm...nowadays the the dotgov just says "yeah, we killed him, he's dead"...the sheep eat it up,a few months later he resurfaces, they kill him again, and so on, and so on...lol

Momlady said...

As my daddy used to say...believe nothing of what you hear and only have of what you see.

linda m said...

He would be the perfect politician today. Full of "hot air" and people would flock around him and praise him for his victorious deeds. Good one today. Coffee inside here cold and snow on the way.

HermitJim said...

Hey Ken...
So many folks just want to believe that telling lies disguised as the truth is easy!

Hey, buddy, thanks for dropping in today!


Hey Momlady...
Good advice then and even more so now!

Thanks, my friend, for coming over today!


Hey Linda...
Does seem like he would fit right in, doesn't it?

Thanks so much for the visit this morning!

Dizzy-Dick said...

Ole Poncho was quite elusive, especially in his home mountains,

Anonymous said...

I believe an officer with last name Patton was along for this expedition as well.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sixbears said...

He sure knew how to put spin on a story before it was called spin.

HermitJim said...

Hey Dizzy...
Seems like the home team always has the advantage. True then, true now!

Thanks for coming over today!


Hey Anon 11:45...
I didn't know that! Interesting!

Thanks for the visit today!


Hey Sixbears...
Certainly seems as though he learned pretty quick.

Guess that was part of his success later on.

Thanks for coming over today!