I want to pin a medal on him.. Patton was as much an actor as he was a fine general. From General Pattons speech to he Second Armored Division, December 1941: I shall be delighted to lead you against any enemy, confident in the fact that your disciplined valor and high training will bring vic-tory. The event reflected the actions that might be required of an officer delivering military dispatches. Few would have predicted that Eisenhower would become the most brilliant star of the West Point class of 1915the class the stars fell on.. From here we went to the place where the Cross had stood. In many ways Patton and Eisenhower were strikingly different. Reprinted in Charles Sumner Olcott, The Life of William McKinley, Volume 2 (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1916), 109-111. General Patton knew his entrance into German-occupied territory was of monumental historical importance. . The real hero is the man whofights even though he is scared . He passed away from pulmonary embolism as a result of the accident. He made his way halfway across the bridge before suddenly halting. General Patton's Famous "Blood and Guts" Speech to His Troops Anyone who has ever viewed the motion picture PATTON will never forget the opening. Misses do not kill, but a bullet in the heart or a bayonet in the guts do. Heres A Summary Of The Events, California Do not sell my personal information. I do not want to be hit there again. . Patton was a fine leader, a great general, but he didn't do politics well. This article contains stories, quotes, timelines, and other pieces of information on one of the most competent and flamboyant generals in American military history. Each treated of a variety of subjects of corrective or training value to a chaplain working with troops in the field. They were waiting for the arrival of that legendary figure, Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr. Old "Blood and Guts" himself, about whom many a colorful chapter would be written for the school boys of tomorrow. But Patton could look to more recent lessons about weather and battle. July 15 Patton formed a provisional corps in western Sicily, Italy. He died at the age of 60 and he died in a freak accident after the war had been won. Patton ordered a hot turkey dinner for every soldier in the Third Army on Christmas Day. The weather was the most serious threat. His most importantpriority was training men for war. Brave, undisciplinedmen have no chance against the discipline andvalor of other men. May 23 Patton was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. He used that experience to write a masterly summary of everything one needed to know about tanks. A man has to have intake as well. . He speaks and reads in script nine languages, so he is perfectly capable of translating the valuable collection of manuscripts in the library. Her fundamental text-book was the Bible. Americans love to fight, traditionally. Please use this data for any reference citations. Decades later, in a February 1, 1945 memo, Eisenhower rankedthe military capabilities of his subordinate American generals in Europe. The American public embraced a pacifism inspired by a vision of the future in which war was a relic of the barbaric past. I should think the distance is less than half a mile. He wrote to Pershing, reminding him that he was the only American who has ever made an attack in a motor vehicle8 (he was referring to the motorized ambush he had led in Mexico), that his fluency in French meant he could read French tank manuals and converse with and take instruction from French tank officers, that he was good with engines, and that as tanks were the new cavalry it was an appropriate branch for a cavalry officer like himself. Rip them up the belly. The leadership had no interest in making room for a new weapon in the shrunken army. As usual, he was dressed stunningly, and his six-foot-two powerfully built physique made an unforgettable silhouette against the great window. Planes on combat missionsflying over and the sound of guns all the while. All in all, Patton had had a quite satisfactory war. All men and women of the six corps and thirty-nine divisions that have at different times been members of this Army have done their duty. I am afraid to admit it, but I do not believe that much praying is going on. We must ask God to stop these rains. From Beersheba we flew over Hebron and Bethlehem and turned westward just south of Jerusalem, finally landing at Aqir, near the coast, where we were met with some cars and driven thirty miles to Jerusalem. I know you will be worthy. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Speech at the Hatch Memorial Shell, Boston, Massachusetts . Soon only two men were standingPatton andAngelo. Having previously been denied permission to photograph the face of the 200,000th prisoner (the Geneva Convention required that a prisoner be protected against acts of public curiosity), Patton announced that this time we will take a picture of his ass. (A week later their POW capture would top 300,000. . In his many trials, Patton turned to God and found remarkable serenity. A common GI saying about Patton was, "our blood, his guts." The general's low point came in August 1943 when he slapped two shell-shocked soldiers under his command for crying. The only reason for calling Palestine a land of milk and honey is by comparison with the desert immediately surrounding it. It seems to me that at the head of a regiment of cavalry any thing would be possible.5 What seemed immediately possible, or so Patton hoped, was war in Mexico that would involve the United States. He gave us a British priest, who had lived a long time in Jerusalem, as a guide to see the sights. Better yetthe tank company in which he fought. George S. Patton. A passionate belief in the crucial role that tanks could play in the future and the will to make it happen seemed to sustain both men during this period. That chance came at Saint Mihiel on 12 September 1918. that they should attack by surprise and mass . December 20 Weather in the Ardennes cleared. Every single man in this Army plays a vitalrole . All rights reserved. And dontgive the enemy time to dig one either. On February 14, 1943, Rommels Tenth and Twenty-first Panzer Divisions of the Afrika Korps launched an attack against the U.S. position. June 8 Arrived in Honolulu and was assigned to G-2, Hawaiian Department. The title of the "Gen. George S. Patton biopic" was changed to Blood and Guts, as announced in the 17 Apr 1968 DV. The film concerns Patton as he leads the American forces during World War II. But he was a master of the dramatic pause, loweringhis voice to great effect, forcing the audience to listen carefully,before bellowing out a line of profanity. His diary entry for November 7, 1944, reads: Two years ago today we were on the Augusta approaching Africa, and it was blowing hard. 1928 October 6 Pattons mother, Ruth Wilson Patton, died. June 10 Patton addressed a crowd of 100,000 civilians in Burbank, California. Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer. December 16 Patton was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. It is power.. . . At the end of the speech he said, Iam taking this division into Berlin and when I do, I wantevery one of your tracks to be carrying the stench of Germanblood and guts.. There is still a tendency in each separate unit . Americans love to fight. July 26 Patton served as Commanding Officer, 2d Armored Brigade of 2d Armored Division, Fort Benning. However, there is an altar which is supposed to be on the exact spot where the Cross was erected. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stayalive. He reduced his Army from thirty-two thousand to three hundred men lest the people of Israel would think that their valor had saved them. You have liberated or conquered more than 82,000 square miles of territory, including 1,500 cities and towns, and some 12,000 inhabited places. George S. Patton is a legendary World War II general, but much of his character as a military man was formed in the Great War. In my mind we came here to thank God that men like these have lived rather than to regret that they have died.. . Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley engineered the Allied conquest that shattered Hitler's hold over Europe. . 1924 July 30 Patton was an Honor Graduate, Command and General Staff College. We talk too much of sacrifice, of the glory of dying that freedom may live. living Goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. In April 1941 Patton, who had been acting commander of theSecond Armored Division for six months, was given permanentcommand and promoted to major general. Please use this data for any reference citations. We entered the city through the gate which Tancred stormed when the city was first taken (A.D. 1099). Big generals and little soldiers were there, as were the royalty and the commoners of this tiny country from which General Patton drove the Germans in that crucial battle last Christmastide. Some day I want to see the Germans raise up on theirpiss-soaked hind legs and howl, Jesus Christ, its thatgoddamned Third Army again and that son of a bitchPatton.. War is a bloody, killing business. Patton succeeded Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower as the Military Governor of the U.S. He did not literally run over bodies. . . The Saar campaign was launched on November 8, 1944. Pray for victory. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Napoleons defeat confirmed Emperor Nicholas Is dictum that Russia has two generals in which she can confide: Generals January and February. But it was not just a speech, it was a performance. On the night of March 22, 1945, elements of the Third Army crossed the Rhine at the German town of Oppenheim. When, in 1916, General Pershing was ordered to lead a punitive expedition into Mexico, Pattons regimentand Pattonwere to stay behind in Texas. Behind Patton's blood and guts personality was an absolute professional, one of the most competent army commanders our side put into the field; the Germans were painstaking in their analysis of the leaders who faced . An enemy machine gun bullethad torn through his body, entering his groin and exiting his buttocks,ripping open a wound the size of a teacup. Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army? inquired the general. April 11 Patton was made the commanding officer of the 2nd Armored Division. I dont want to hear of any soldier under my commandbeing captured unless he has been hit. According to St. Paul, Thelast enemy that shall be destroyed is death. More accurately, reflectedPatton, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is fear of death. All realAmericans love the sting and clash of battle. . As he came closer to the German lines, Patton was hit. The following day General Patton arrived at the pontoon bridge his engineers had constructed over the Rhine. Between the bursts ofmachine gun fire Patton could hear the excited conversations of Germansoldiers who had just taken up a position in a trench a mere fortyyards away. Remember that theenemy is just as frightened as you are, and probablymore so. I want a prayer.. That is not the way to win battles. Patton prayed to do his best, he prayed for solace in times of trouble, and he prayed for victory in times of war. His voice was actually ratherhigh, certainly not the gravelly bass of George C. Scott in the Hollywoodmovie Patton. Get him up here. We have no intention to reduce our vast striking force. One account of what happened after Pattons telephone call to ONeill is related by Colonel Paul Harkins, Pattons deputy chief of staff. . But it was not just a speech, it was a performance. He ranked Bradley and Army Air Force GeneralCarl Spaatz atnumber one, with Walter Bedell Smith number two. The defending Germans had pre-positioned at least twenty-five machine gun nests to protect the town. click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. After one months fighting, Pattons Third Army had liberated 873 towns and 1,600 square miles. . About a hundred and fifty doughboys followed him, but when theyarrived at the crest of the hill, the onslaught of gunfire forced themall to the ground, hugging it for protection. 1904 June 16 Patton entered U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York. . He was laid next to a Third Army soldier who had been killed in combat during the Battle of the Bulge. The vivid and profane inspirational speeches garnered muchattention and some detractors, but Patton also gave countless speechesintended to educate his officers and troops on the topics of strategy,tactics, discipline,and how to conduct the new deadly form of armoredwarfare: You men and officers are, in my opinion, magnificentlydisciplined.You cannotbe disciplinedin great thingsand undisciplined in small things . . Pattons speeches typically included humor, almost always profaneand often self-deprecatory: I do not know of a better way to die than to be facingthe enemy. See if we cant get God to work on our side., Chaplain ONeill: Sir, its going to take a pretty thick rug for that kind of praying., General Patton: I dont care if it takes a flying carpet. And when we get to Berlin, I am going to personally shoot that paperhanginggoddamned son of a bitch just like I would a snake., The troops cheered Pattons remarks. Following an old cavalry credo to theeffect you should always Hit em where they aint, he saidto us: You have to grab em by the[censored] and kick emin the [censored] . Pattons exploits in World War II, and his quotable phrases, are legendary. George Campbell Scott, portraying Patton, standing in front of an. Two weeks later, General Patton took over command of II Corps from Fre-dendall and wrote this letter to the troops now under his command: All of us have been in battle. The General wanted a prayerhe wanted one right now and he wanted it published to the Command. Polo was his substitute. George C. Scott, portraying Patton, standing in front of an immensely huge American flag, delivers his version of Patton's "Speech to the Third Army" on June 5th, 1944, the eve of the Allied invasion . 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