March 19th, 2024
7minute read
Imet the man in my medical clinic.
He was skinny and old.
He looked like everybodys grandfather.
General George S. Patton acknowledges the cheers of the welcoming crowds in Los Angeles, California, during his visit on June 9, 1945. Image: NARA
His right forearm was a mass of scars.
I naturally inquired where he had acquired those.
Have you seenSaving Private Ryan?
Patton spent a year at Virginia Military Institute before transferring to the United States Military Academy (West Point). He had to repeat his freshman year due to poor academic performance.
Yeah, he really did that.
The man obviously survived the invasion as well as the hellish slog through the bocage country that followed.
He lost two toes at the Battle of the Bulge and fought through the Hurtgen Forest.
George Patton was a born soldier and competitor. He competed in the 1912 Olympics in the pentathlon.
Along the way, he met General George Patton twice.
My friend said that Patton had an odd high-pitched voice that seemed incongruous with his alpha male persona.
All the major players were there, to include Patton, Bradley, and Montgomery.
Lt. George S. Patton served as the personal aide to Gen. John J. “Blackjack” Pershing during the Pancho Villa Expedition in Mexico. Image: NARA
As the meeting concluded, Patton and another General walked past.
They were engaged in an animated discussion about what they had just heard, oblivious to their surroundings.
My friend related that he heard Patton say, Ike doesnt know how to fight a damn war!
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. pins the Silver Star on Pvt. Ernest A. Jenkins for his actions in Chateaudun, France on August 16-17, 1944. Patton’s famed revolver is clearly visible. Image: NARA
Patton would not make it past captain in todays army.
Origin Story
George Smith Patton, Jr. was born in Los Angeles in 1885.
When he was young, Patton had great difficulty learning to read and write.
Lt. Col. George S. Patton, Jr., poses for a photograph in France in 1918 in front of aRenault FT light tank. Patton would help “write the book” on armored warfare. Image: U.S. Army
He had to repeat a year at West Point when he was unable to pass mathematics.
However, the young officer had other latent skills that made him an exceptionally capable combat leader.
In addition to a diagnosable excess of ego, Patton was terrified he might miss out on war.
Gen. Bernard Law Montgomery shakes hands with Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. at the Palermo airport, Sicily, on July 28, 1943. Image: Lt. Brin/NARA
That was where he first saw the elephant.
Like most young men, 2LT Patton was full of fire and vinegar.
Once he arrived in theater he found a place filled with danger and intrigue.
Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Commanding the U.S. Third Army, prepares to go aloft on August 26, 1944 to inspect the progress of his forces from the air. Image: Van Maanen/NARA
Mexican bandits were everywhere, and American soldiers had to be forever on their guard.
Patton already exhibited some exceptional skill at arms.
However, once he got lubricated at the bar, something untoward occurred and his M1911 accidentally discharged.
Radio commentators chat with Gen. Patton in Hershfeld, Germany on April 19, 1945. The end of the European Theater was less than three weeks away. Image: NARA
No one was hurt, but the young man soured on John Brownings esteemed hogleg.
As a result, he sent off for a Single Action Army revolver for which he paid $50.
He later had the gun fitted with ivory grips and extensively engraved.
Faithful friend to the end, Willie, Gen. Patton’s pet bull terrier mourns the passing of his owner in this January 1946 photograph. Image: NARA
He was the only soldier in the US Army with any tank-driving experience.
A gunshot wound to the pelvis took him out of the rest of the war.
The Big Time
World War II was without precedent in human history.
In 1939, there were 174,000 troops in the US Army.
At its apogee during the height of the war, that number reached 8 million.
Such explosive expansion offered unprecedented opportunities for advancement.
George Patton rode that wave.
Pattons military service in WWII has been exhaustively documented elsewhere, but heres an overview.
The controversy surrounding Pattons slapping of a soldier suffering from battle fatigue circled the globe.
Once Patton was unleashed upon the continent, his reputation as a fire-breather veritably exploded.
He famously died in an auto accident at age 60 on 21 December 1945.
Controversy orbits around the details to that event to this very day.
Ruminations
General George Patton was a visionary commander who thrived in the radical space of the war.
Audacious, bold, and utterly addicted to war, Patton was a natural combat leader.
