Gen. George Patton, hero of Bastogne

If there are some men who are destined for greatness on the battlefield, then George Patton would have to be placed in this class. George's association with war stemmed from his family's involvement in the Great US Civil War, 1861-1865`. Members of Patton's family fought on the side of the Rebel Confederates and the United States Army in that war. George, who was born in 1885. was similarly divided. There never was any doubt that a military career would be George's future, but he took his education at the Virginia Military Institute, and later the United States Military Academy. In 1912 Patton, a superb horseman, was chosen to be a member of the United States Equestrian Team at the Stockholm Olympics -- he finished 5th. This was the Olympics where the great Native American, Jim Thorpe ran away from his competition in the Decathlon. He was declared the world's greatest athlete by the King of Sweden, only to have his medals stripped from him when it was learned that he had once accepted $20 to play in a baseball game -- it was considered that by this act he was no longer an amateur.

While in Europe for the Olympics Patton was introduced to the sport of fencing, which he took up with a passion. On return to his duties with the Army in the United States Patton was named "Master of the Sword" in the Army and put in charge of bringing this new sport to the troops. He designed a new sword, "The Patton Sword". The Army promptly ordered the manufacture of 20,000 "Patton Swords". Patton's Instructional book on the subject, "Saber Exercise 1914" quickly became the "bible" for the new sport, with Ft. Riley, in Kansas as the Mecca for the Army fencers, with George Patton as the Army's Resident Expert on the subject.

Patton first saw active duty with the Army in the War with Mexico, 1915 against Pancho Villa, as part of the first unit to use motorized vehicles in a war situation.

Patton volunteered for the newly formed Tank Units during World War I, and spent most of the war as Commander of the Tank school of the US Expeditionary Forces in France. At the end of the war he finally got into action, and was wounded leading his tank column against the enemy.

During the years between World War I and World War II Patton became the central figure in the Army's drive to develop fighting tank units. He rose steadily through the ranks and on the eve of World War II be was Commander of the US 2nd Armored Division, the Army's showcase Tank Unit.

Patton's ascent to "larger-than-life" status and becoming an American hero of World War II really began in 1942, when Patton led his US Troops in the invasion of North Africa at Casablanca in the Mediterranean Theater. He proved that he was an effective commander -- one who could bring rapid rehabilitation to demoralized troops, badly discouraged through repeated bad experiences at the hands of the German General Rommel, "The Desert Fox".

Following the African Campaign, Patton led the US 7th Army in the invasion of Sicily. He was the first Allied Commander to reach Messina, the key point in the Italian campaign. It was at Messina that Patton's ego first got him into trouble. He garnered widespread criticism when he attempted to "rehabilitate" two GIs, shell-shocked from the battle, by slapping them in public. The event was witnessed by two newspaper men, who quickly got that story to their newspapers' front pages. Public clamor was immediate, resulting in Patton's being relieved of his field command and assigned to "a nothing desk job" behind the lines.

By 1944 Patton had been deemed punished enough -- the United States was in need of really good field generals and Patton was brought back into the war to command the US Third Army, after D-Day. In an attempt to aid in the breakout of US forces after Normandy, Patton's Third Army attacked with speed and great force to defeat German forces and capture hundreds of thousands German soldiers at the Falaise Pocket in Brittany.

Patton's Field strategy always favored speed and offensive action. Forward scout units and Piper Cubs determined the enemy's strength and position. Self-propelled artillery units moved forward quickly to engage the enemy in indirect fire. Then tank supported infantry would advance to engage the enemy directly and exploit any breach in the German lines. These advances relied on fast moving tanks and air support, constantly pressuring retreating German forces, thus preventing them from regrouping and setting up effective defensive positions. The strategy was audacious, earning Patton the nick-name of "Old Blood and Guts" (as the GIs were fond of saying, "Our blood, his guts.")

Never-the-less, Patton's plan worked and his forces raced across Europe toward Berlin. (At home we eagerly watched for the daily illustration in the Omaha World Herald, which showed just how far the Allies (Patton) were from Berlin, and also how far the Russians, advancing from the east, were from Berlin). Patton's plan worked wonderfully well until August of 1944, when Patton's speedy, mechanized Army literally ran out of gas during the Lorraine Campaign and was forced to cool its heels and fight defensive battles for over one month, until Eisenhower worked out the glitches in getting supplies to Patton in a timely manner. Needless to say, Patton was furious.

Until the middle of December 1944 Patton's Third Army was at a virtual standstill. Then on December 16th some 250,000 German troops launched a "last ditch" offensive across Belgium and Northern France, to try to stop the Allied Invasion, in an operation that became known as The Battle of the Bulge. Weather conditions were horrible -- one of the worst winters Europe had known in recent years. For a time the Germans were successful in their attack toward the Meuse River. Eisenhower called an emergency meeting of his top commanders.

Patton, who had anticipated the German offensive, had a plan, which Eisenhower and Gen. Bradley reluctantly agreed should be tried. Skillfully, and with great speed Patton disengaged three divisions of his Army and attacked to the north, with Bastogne as its objective. By Dec. 21st units of Patton's Third Army had opened a corridor from the sea to Bastogne. Patton was showered with praise and admiration for his ability to wheel whole divisions to fight in the middle of winter, to resupply the besieged troops at Bastogne with fuel, food and hope, and dramatically hasten the end of the war in Europe. Answering these accolades, Patton modestly proclaimed, "The relief of Bastogne...the most brilliant operation we have thus far performed, in my opinion the most remarkable achievement of the war...my greatest battle."

By the end of February 1945 the Germans were in full retreat. Though the war ground on for another three months, and there were more great battles on German soil, of which Patton's Third Army saw its share of action, the march into Germany was never in doubt. One great regret that Patton had, was that the Allied powers saw fit to allow the Russians, from the East to occupy Berlin, rather than Patton's Third Army, which he saw as their "God given right."

Patton, the man who lived for war, chafed at the orders which appointed him as Governor of Bavaria, charged with denazification of German citizens, rather than allowing him to be allowed to fight the Japanese in the Pacific Theater.

In December 1945 another general invited Patton to a pheasant hunt in Bavaria, to "lift his spirits". While waiting for a train to pass they were struck by an Army truck, which made a sharp left turn in front of them. The other riders in Patton's car were only slightly injured, but Patton was thrown in a way that broke his neck. He lived for 12 days, but was told he never would walk again. His comment, "This a hell of a way to die." He died in his sleep on December 21st. He was buried in the Luxembourg Memorial Cemetery, alongside the wartime casualties of his Third Army, per his request, "to be buried with my men."