Q: I have heard Donald Trump tell the story about Gen. John J. Pershing capturing 50 Muslim rebels in the Philippines. Pershing supposedly had his soldiers dip bullets in pig blood in front of the rebels and then had his soldiers shoot and kill 49 of them. The 50th rebel was sent to tell others what happened. Do you know if this story is true?
—Pam Belanger, Woodstock
A: Historians don't think this incident occurred, according to research by PolitiFact.com, a fact-checking website run by the Tampa Bay Times, and others.
The United States governed the Philippines after gaining control of the islands after the Spanish-American War. There were problems with Muslim insurgents, which Trump explained when he spoke in North Charleston, S.C., on Feb. 19.
Pershing was in charge of the Moro Province, which experienced unrest during this time.
The story about the bullets soaked in pig’s blood has been circulating on the Internet for years, and Snopes.com, another fact-checking website, labeled it as “Legend” in 2001.
“I never found any indication that it was true in extensive research on (Pershing’s) Moro experiences,” Pershing biographer Frank Vandiver told urbanlegends.about.com in 2003. “This kind of thing would have run completely against his character.”
Vandiver, who wrote “Black Jack: The Life and Times of John J. Pershing,” died in 2005.
PolitiFact.com last month found evidence U.S. commanders “used pigs as a tactic against Muslim insurgents,” but eight historians “were at least skeptical” about what Trump said.
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