U.S. General George S. Patton and his 7th Army arrive in Messina several hours before British Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery and his 8th Army, winning the unofficial “Race to Messina” and completing the Allied conquest of Sicily.
Born in San Gabriel, California, in 1885, Patton’s family had a long history of military service. After studying at West Point, he served as a tank officer in World War I, and these experiences, along with his extensive military study, led him to become an advocate of the crucial importance of the tank in future warfare. After the American entrance into World War II, Patton was placed in command of an important U.S. tank division and played a key role in the Allied invasion of French North Africa in 1942. In 1943, Patton led the U.S. 7th Army in its assault on Sicily and won fame for out-commanding Montgomery during their pincer movement against Messina.
Although Patton was one of the ablest American commanders in World War II, he was also one of the most controversial. He presented himself as a modern-day cavalryman, designed his own uniform, and was known to make eccentric claims of his direct descent from great military leaders of the past through reincarnation. During the Sicilian campaign, Patton generated considerable controversy when he accused a hospitalized U.S. soldier suffering from battle fatigue of cowardice and then personally struck him across the face. The famously profane general was forced to issue a public apology and was reprimanded by General Dwight Eisenhower.
However, when it was time for the invasion of Western Europe, Eisenhower could find no general as formidable as Patton, and the general was again granted an important military post. In 1944, Patton commanded the U.S. 3rd Army in the invasion of France, and in December of that year his expertise in military movement and tank warfare helped crush the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes.
During one of his many successful campaigns, General Patton was said to have declared, “Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance.” On December 21, 1945, he died in a hospital in Germany from injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Mannheim.
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“On December 21, 1945, he died in a hospital in Germany from injuries sustained in an automobile accident near Mannheim.”
Patton was murdered, the first two attempts failing. Patton figured out that we defeated the wrong enemy in WWII and was making waves of coming back to the US and becoming a political force. BTW, if you’re thinking of reading O’Reilly’s “Killing Patton” don’t bother – easily the worst historical book I’ve ever read.
Loose cannon but he was real.
Of course the Mafia deserved a lot of the credit…..
Patton was a perfect example of the dichotomy of military service, of which I had a small taste while serving in the Navy. Absolutely priceless during wartime, when performing in his function as a warrior. Absolutely unfitted, by TPTB, for peacetime and social issues. I’ve seen and experienced firsthand how awesome your ‘superiors’ think you are when the SHTF and you’re in your element, but how quickly they want to hammer your ass when the same attention to the main objective (winning military conflicts) causes them to look incompetent during non-critical operations.
I think the higher the typical officer is, the less it cares about winning the next war and the more it cares about it’s next assignment and promotion, Communist Diversity Programs, screwing around, and it’s Rank has Privileges. If it wasn’t for Conservative Senior NCOs, they would all be fired for incompetence.