This is CBS. I am the world. I'm John Batser. Nick Lloyd is here. His new book is The West

and Front. History of the Great War, 1914 and 1918. His June of 1917. A cavalryman in

high, shiny boots with a stiff collar, drab olive, arrives in Paris to celebration, cheering

from the rooftops. His name is Pershing. A couple of months before he was riding horses

in Mexico and was in Texas in the heat of the Texas summer. And because he spoke French

and because his commander died of a heart attack right before, Wilson called him up. President

Wilson Beckendim to say, I'm sending you the head of the American Expeditionary Force.

He's in April of 1917. Wilson and the Congress declared war on Germany and Austria. And

Pershing arrives without an army. There were only 113,000 men in the army when Pershing

was riding around in Mexico, seeking Pancho via. He's without an army, but he's going to

bring an army with him. And what they want is a malgommation. Let's term on this because

a malgommation will not work. Pershing's ideas, we're going to fight alone. Nick, a hundred

years later, is Pershing right or it's foes right? Should they have all been put together?

No, I think I think pushing is right. I think, you know, the malgommation when America

enters the war in April, 1970 and the French said, look, you know, you don't really know

how to fight. You don't have the equipment. Why don't you just give us your manpower? Because

that's your strongest asset. And we will train them. They'll work in our divisions.

And this will be a way that we can essentially reenergize and we can win. And understand

that would be the Americans say, well, no, you know, you perhaps don't have the best record

of not killing your own troops. So actually, no, we might consent to some training missions

and coordination on this or that, but you're not going to have American soldiers, you know,

under French officers and that kind of thing. So the malgommation issue goes through the book

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