I was overwhelmed and prayed in front of his grave. If its a choice between them and the Russians, I prefer the Germans., Worse was to follow. I dont like the Nazis any more than you do. On May 26, 1910, he married Beatrice Banning Ayer, the daughter of Boston industrial tycoon Frederick Ayer. Patton tried to explain that the camp had been fine before the arrival of the present Jewish occupants who were pissing and crapping all over the place. Despite being told to Shut up, George, he apparently went on to say that there was an empty village nearby which he was planning to turn into a concentration camp for them. General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. Third Army, became military governor of the greater portion of the American occupation zone of Germany. Theres no room with the Nationals. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Patton, on the other hand, although conscious, was bleeding profusely from head wounds received when he was thrown forward against the steel frame of the glass partition separating the front and rear seats and then backward again into his seat. He was one of several notable personalities I briefly crossed paths. Kevin M. Hymel is a historian for the US Army. Ive always admired Patton, he was a great leader of fighting men and a natural leader of men. Thanks for posting the article-overall, good information. Virginia Tech was not the worst school massacre in U.S. history. As has been said before in various iterations; you go to war with what you have, not what you wish you had. I especially liked the excerpts from his diary which shows Patton NOT to be the person that many have said, to have had too many bumps to the head, but a man of common sense who was derailed by political academists. Patton was offered command of the Fifteenth Army an army in name only since its sole mission was to prepare a history of the war in Europe! Sadly, generals have no say in the world when a war comes to an end. Youre all hoping I will! His daughter, who worked in the amputee ward as an occupational therapist, recalled later that when her father saw the soldiers there he burst into tears and exclaimed, Goddammit, if I had been a better general, most of you would not be here. The men, who were not looking for sympathy, cheered him as he left. It is for me personally another very sad thought. We, as a nation and an Ally, were fortunate to have him on our side. A first-generation American of Lebanese descent, James Jabara was intent on being a fighter pilot. Even now, twenty-six years after his death, he can be pictured clearly as the Army In September, Patton returned to Berlin for a military review hosted by the legendary Marshal Georgi Zhukov. June 2009. The room was empty except for a hospital bed and a few other pieces of standard furniture of that long-ago era. It is rather sad for me to think that my last opportunity for earning my pay has passed. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared." 7. Pattons final command was to head the Fifteenth U.S. Army in Bad Nauheim, Germany, where he oversaw the writing of a history of the war in Europe, a role Patton described as serving as an undertaker at my own funeral. On December 9, 1945, Patton sustained serious injuries to his head and spine in a low-speed car accident; after 12 days of terrible pain, he died. (Read Sir John Keegans Britannica entry on the Normandy Invasion.). The other issue is that I got Eisenhower and gave Mark Clark a pass in Italy. However, such accusations tend to rely on circumstantial evidence, and no definitive proof of any conspiracy has emerged. The only jobs in which he was interested were commandant of the Army War College or commanding general of the Army ground forces. George S. Patton (1885-1945) was a high-ranking WWII general, who led the U.S. 7th Army in its invasion of Sicily and northern France in the summer of 1944. Those who knew the Pattons were aware of the vital role Beatrice played in his reaching his destiny, but few others . Out in the rain, an honor guard fired volleys. He had lost none of his quick wit or audacity. Salute to a great general! Following his campaign in Western Europe, George S. Patton had difficulty adjusting to peacetime and was fatally injured in an automobile accident. Then, before a crowd of up to 50,000, he made a speech in which he said, My name is merely a hook to hang the honors on. Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes escorts Mrs. Beatrice Patton to her husbands funeral in Hamm, Luxembourg. On September 22, Patton agreed to answer questions from reporters after his normal morning briefing at Bad Tlz. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. A number of books and films have advanced conspiracy theories suggesting that the outspoken Patton was actually assassinated on orders from either Washington or Moscow. While some have mourned what was a tragic loss at the time, others over the decades have theorized Patton's death was anything but an accident. On September 12, 1918, Patton, ignoring orders to stay in radio contact, personally led the first U.S. tank units into battle during the Saint-Mihiel offensive. The first stop of Patton's last ride, however, was after only about five miles when he saw General Keyes's car, who left earlier for his headquarters, stalled on the side of the road with mechanical trouble. Benjamin W. Patton stands with his father, Gen. George Patton in 1978 at the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia. I think it is amusing that no one tries to get any [medals] for me. A comment now that time has given historians a bit more perspective. Cartoonist Bill Mauldin describes the moment: "Beside him, lying in a big chair was Willie, the bull terrier. Hunting down runaway slaves: The cruel ads of Andrew Jackson and the master class, Gen. George S. Patton Jr. died on Dec. 23, 1945, after suffering a broken neck in a car accident days earlier. 3. Forces European Theater (USFET). His cross faces those of the men he led, as if he were leading them again for one last battle. and George. He briefed Ikes chief of staff, General Walter Bedell Smith, who sent the report of the incident to Eisenhower who was on leave in the South of France. Dont let any more Russian bastards into this headquarters.. Would like to buy the book above, since my father Peter Beck surrendered to George Patton, the Russians on his heels. In the case of Europe, he was convinced it would soon become Communist, and in the case of the Nazis he saw practical problems. A blood clot in his paralyzed body had worked its way to his heart, stopping it and ending the life of one of Americas greatest battlefield commanders. She was the same age as Patton's daughters, and in her youth spent most of her holidays with the extended Patton family. Waters spoke with members of the Winyah Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution about his famous grandfather. VERY CONVENIENT ACCIDENT SO I SUPPOSE THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOME DOUBT IN SOME MINDS!!!!!! Gen. Leven Allen, Bradleys former chief of staff. Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the Third Army to relieve Bastogne, and Patton repositioned his force with astonishing speed. By now Bedell Smith, Adcock, and others had come to the conclusion that Patton was mentally unbalanced. When Patton eventually met him on September 28, he described him as a smooth, smart-ass academic type. Academic or not, Dorn soon focused his attention on the success or otherwise of the denazification program in Bavaria. In 1943, he used daring assault and defense tactics to lead the 7th U.S. army to victory at the invasion of Sicily. My soldiers are fighting men and if I dismiss the sewer cleaners and the clerks my soldiers will have to take over those jobs, he reasoned. Tributes were already beginning to flow in and would eventually include messages from President Truman, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and the French National Assembly. He graduated with distinction from the Army War College in 1932, and he remained a vigorous proponent of tank warfare throughout the interwar years. In 1968/69 while a young USARMY engineer LT stationed in Kontum Province in the VN Central Highlands, I recall meeting a young armor LT named George Patton. Seems that just days after Patton's untimely death after a car accident in 1945, his widow asked for a meeting with Jean Gordon, Patton's alleged mistress. Patton wrote this account as part of a six-page letter to his wife, which, despite all its bombast, managed to be magnanimous to MacArthur's unwillingness to seek shelter: "I was the only man on the front-line except for General MacArthur who never ducked a shell." MacArthur's version of the story is more convoluted. Patton obviously saw into the future and what the world would be like in our time with Russia and china. George S. Patton, who was the son of the famous World War II General and who became a Major General in the Army himself, died June 27, 2004, at his home in Hamilton, Mass., at age 80. He entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1903 but transferred to theU.S. Military Academy at West Point after just one year. The weather was too bad to fly, and when Patton arrived on the 28th, after a seven-hour car journey in heavy rain, he was uncharacteristically dressed in an ordinary khaki jacket and GI trousers. On March 1 those forces took Trier, precipitating one of the most famous exchanges of the war. He acknowledged that he was a terrible politician. all ears I am for some brilliant military strategy. During that time the Third Army suffered roughly 137,000 casualties, but it had inflicted more than 10 times that on the enemy. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. It is to be found on battlefields from Morocco to Bad Tlz. Courtesy of The National Archives and Records Administration. In 1912 Patton was selected to represent the United States at the Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. When Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa led an attack on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916, Patton joined the staff of Brig. As the Third Army approached the German border, the advance was slowed because of supply shortages, but it was not stopped until it met the strong German defenses at Nancy and Metz in November. . On the afternoon of the 23rd, Pattons coffin was taken on an Army half-track to the Protestant Christ Church in Heidelberg for a short Episcopalian service conducted by two Army chaplains during which there were no eulogies. The Augusta had been the flagship of the Western Task Force in the invasion of Morocco. I HAD JUST WATCHED THE MOVIE OF GENERAL PATTONS HISTORY DURING WORLD WAR 2 AND DECIDED TO DIG A LITTLE FURTHER AS MY HUSBAND WHO IS A HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR SEEMED TO THINK THERE MAY HAVE BEEN FOUL PLAY AT THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. Now, more than half the Germans were Nazis and we would be in a hell of a fix if we removed all Nazi party members from office. His admiration for Germans was indeed troubling.. His death resulted from complications with his injuries and congestive heart failure. His wife is Beatrice Banning Ayer (26 May 1910 - 21 December 1945) ( his death) ( 3 children) George S. Patton Net Worth His net worth has been growing significantly in 2022-2023. Hordes of well-wishers tore up the cemetery grounds making the trek to his grave in the back corner. Shortly after Beatrice Patton buried her husband, Gen. George S. Patton Jr., on Christmas Eve 1945, she summoned a woman named Jean Gordon to her hotel room in Boston. The road took us through Luxemburg and Dad showed us all about Pattons Tank and the history of the Ardennes since we were going through them Even in Bitburg and in the small villages around the B-50 that goes to Spangdahlem Air For Base like Dudeldorf you see traces of your Grandpas tanks on the sides of stones village entrance that were not much wider than the tanks. Pattons body, draped with his personal four-star flag, lay in state for two days in the Villa Reiner, a 19th-century mansion overlooking Heidelberg and the Neckar River. Pattons morale, however, got a lift when his aircraft was given a fighter escort for its flight to Bavaria and troops and tanks lined the route from the airfield to Bad Tlz. May God bless you and your family the way HE has blesses your Grandpa! Bradley shouldve been relieved of command. We already had atomic weapons and had used them on Japanese cities twice-perhaps some historians have suggested as a demonstration and warning to Moscowbut I am interested in the details of how we would have lost to the Russians, in some detail of course ie our objectives vs theirs and precisely how wed have failed in ours while they suceeded in defeating an American armed forces at the apogee of their war potential and still in Europe prior to Operation Magic Carpet. For all his showmanship he was a scientific soldier, a thorough military student. December 21 is the 70 th anniversary of the death of General George S. Patton, Jr., renowned and controversial general and subject of the unforgettable 1970 eponymous motion picture. By the time the gap between Falaise and Argentan was closed on August 20, some 20,00040,000 Germans had escaped. It was a mistake to suppose a free-swinging fighter could acquire overnight the capacities of a wise administrator. He discovered that the German organization set on behalf of Patton to administer Bavaria was riddled with former Nazis. The former supreme commander was due to return home in November to take over as Army chief of staff at the end of the year. By not listening to him when he wanted to re-arm the German army, put him in charge with his third army and kick to Russians back to where they belong has been proven to be the worst blunder in military history. Fortunately, Pattons condition began to stabilize. Patton was put in a crude and extremely painful form of traction that evening, and the U.S. Army Surgeon General in Washington recommended that a British neurosurgeon, Brigadier Hugh Cairns, and an orthopedic surgeon be brought in to assist. Jeter Downs needs to play to develop. Some pages of the narrative are almost verbatim the text of the diary, with personal references toned down or eliminated., Although perhaps mentally satisfying, such activities did little for Pattons morale and he soon became moody and tense. Two days later, Patton wrote his last letter to his wife telling her that he was coming home for Christmas. My high school civics teacher (in 1960) told us a few stories about his WWII infantry service in Europe. He should have been president. In early July in Paris, Patton again confided in his close friend Everett Hughes that he was glad to be out of the States and back in Europe. This was, of course, completely contrary to the political direction he had received from Eisenhower for the denazification of the American zone of Germany. Pattons medical records for that day read, Prognosis for recovery increasingly grave. Spurling and the other doctors knew that it was impossible to operate to relieve the pressure on his badly damaged spinal cord to eliminate the paralysis. Thirty-year-old Lieutenant Patton managed to build an acquaintance with the general. Now all that is left is to sit around and await the arrival of the undertaker and posthumous immortality.. Patton and Gay left Bad Nauheim at about 0900 hours on December 9 in Pattons 1939 Model 75 Cadillac driven by Pfc. Needless to say, the press ran with this story, particularly the Democrat versus Republican analogy. This suspicion is reinforced by a comment in a letter to Beatrice dated November 24: I finally after a fight of three years got the DSM for all my people, ten in all. His first words to his wife were, Im afraid, Bea, this may be the last time we see each other., Needless to say, rumors soon began to circulate that the accident that had led to Pattons death was no accident. When Fort Knox shipped out most of its old Army tanks in 2011, the General George Patton Museum seemed destined to follow. He often led from the front, and he almost always delivered victory. He could think of no better way to spend his last Sunday in Europe than hunting with an old and trusted friend. Pattons version of what Ike said at this conference can be read in his diary. This came to be per his request to "be buried with his men." 30 views, 2 likes, 1 loves, 7 comments, 0 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Jefferson Avenue UMC: Jefferson Avenue UMC While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. But over the years, certain circumstantial evidence has come forward from multiple sources that put that theory in a new light. His early years were marred, however, by difficulties in spelling and reading, which has led some historians to speculate that he suffered from undiagnosed dyslexia. This is the offical version of the accident and death. May the Great Worm gnaw your vitals, Beatrice pronounced, uttering what DEste said was a feared curse she had learned in Hawaii years before. Camp 24 at Auerbach, 100 miles northeast of Munich, held former members of the 1st Leibstandarte and 12th Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Divisions, and there had already been complaints by the senior German officer of unbearable treatment of seriously disabled comrades.. His name had been included in a list of six generals submitted by the War Department for consideration by MacArthur, but the Supreme Commander had rejected him out of hand. Too bad he died. The apogee of Pattons career came with the dramatic sweep of his Third Army across northern France in the summer of 1944 in a campaign marked by great initiative, ruthless drive, and disregard of classic military rules. Gordon turned gray, and Ayer ran from the room. A horse with boots backwards in the stirrups joined the journey to the cemetery. He toured France collecting, according to his aide, enough certificates of honorary citizenship from cities like Avranches, Rennes, and Chartres to paper the walls of a room, and he had lunch with the unanimously elected president of the provisional French government, Charles De Gaulle, and dinner with the chief of staff of the French Army. Patton may have been a great war general, but the business of politics and running a country would not have been his cup of tea. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." People hate to be micromanaged. But Gordon had reappeared in Europe during the war, alarming Beatrice. He died from a form of Parkinson's disease [8] at the age of 80 in 2004 and is survived by his wife, the former Joanne Holbrook, and their five children, Mother Margaret Georgina Patton OSB, George S. Patton V, Robert H. Patton, Helen Patton-Plusczyk, and Benjamin Wilson Patton; six grandchildren; and a great-grandson. Eisenhower returned to Bavaria a week later following reports of bad conditions in some of the DP camps there. He goes on to say, however, that we shall never know, for after his death Beatrice refused to allow an autopsy on the body despite a request from the Army. Patton began his military career . And so it went on throughout his leaveadulation from family, friends, and the vast majority of the public. Assassins!A Confederate spy was accused of helping kill Abraham Lincoln. Patton was rushed to the 130th Station Hospital in Heidelberg, 12 miles away. Mr. Hymel has also worked as the director of research for WWII Historyand WWII Quarterlymagazines, as well as the associate editor of ARMY magazine. He shortened the war in Europe and saved many lives, civilian and military, while predicting what would happen if the Russians were given free reign. Hitlers mother was the only person he ever genuinely loved. Cancer killed her decades before he became a monster. By that time their armor was easily superior to ours, and their soldiers knew how to defeat a well trained enemy while sustaining millions of casualties. After knowing how our Soldiers were treated in Japanese Prison Camps, old Gutless left our boys to rot. After nine days of agony, traction was maintained and the pain eased by encasing Pattons neck and shoulders in a special plaster jacket. Thank you for the long article. George Patton, in full George Smith Patton, Jr., (born November 11, 1885, San Gabriel, California, U.S.died December 21, 1945, Heidelberg, Germany), U.S. Army officer who was an outstanding practitioner of mobile tank warfare in the European and Mediterranean theatres during World War II. Seventh Army into Sicily, employing his armour in a rapid drive that captured Palermo in July and Messina in August. The Pattons were then stationed in Hawaii, and Gordon was passing through, headed for Asia. Hitler refused to use sarin during WWII. Such a feat was made possible in large part by Pattons intelligence officer, Col. Oscar Koch, who had predicted the German offensive on the basis of a shrewd analysis of enemy troop strength and disposition. She was discovered on the floor of the kitchen with the oven gas turned on, and had committed suicide. Who Is George S. Patton's Wife? Patton knew he was in trouble. He led a series of wildly successful offensive operations in Europe during World War II, but his controversial and erratic behaviour off the battlefield damaged his reputation and hampered his own career advancement. Neither driver was injured, and Gay received only slight bruises. His academic performance improved, and, after graduating in June 1909, Patton was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the cavalry. Patton was a great war time general and a bad choice for an administrator. General George S Patton's wife is pictured . Greg Wehner. Who knows? They are a scurvy race and simply savages. My language was not particularly politic, but I have yet to find where politic language produces successful government. A plane was sent to London to fetch them, and after they arrived on the morning of the 10th, they advised some changes that turned out to be equally painful. Gen. Patton, after a lifetime of military service, and grand achievements in World War II, had suffered a broken neck in a car accident in Germany on Dec. 9, 1945. His offensive minded spirit may have rubbed his G.I.s the wrong way as he did not want to let up on a beaten enemy in NW France, but his Third Army, in France and especially the brilliant pre-planning and performance before and during the Germans Wacht am Rhein Ardennes attack, no doubt saved many G.I.s at Bastogne. . George Smith Patton Jr. was born on November 11, 1885, in the Los Angeles suburb of San Gabriel, California, to George Smith Patton Sr. and his wife, Ruth Wilson, the daughter of Benjamin Davis Wilson, the second Mayor of Los Angeles. Patton died from his injuries on Dec. 21, 1945. He complained that some Germans were being interned there as political prisoners without justification. Just Berlin! Alexander Lovelace holds a masters degree in military and American history from George Washington University, where he was awarded the Charles Herber Teaching Prize for best Graduate Teaching Assistant Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. A 12-man squad raised its rifles, and a three-round volley of salutes echoed into the Luxembourg hills. He served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Patton noted in his diary that after a bout of heavy whiskey drinking during and after the meal, the Russian went out cold, while he himself walked out under my own steam. Before it departed, seventeen Army cannons roared a salute to the fallen general. At about 1145 hours, in the northeast suburbs of Mannheim, an oncoming two-and-a-half-ton U.S. Army truck swung across the path of Pattons Cadillac in an attempt to turn into a Quartermaster depot. Extremely captivating story and well written with plenty of facts to back up the story. They had a daughter, Maria de Jesus (called Sue) and a son John, before she . This is a wonderful account of his final days when his transition from a powerful general to a peacetime administrator showed that that was never going to be a role which he was able to do. Nobody would have thought anything unusual about it, and even would have thought it to be proper. Gen. George Patton's wife put a Hawaiian curse on his ex-mistress. For example, he closed one letter to his wife with these words: "I cannot send you any kisses this evening because we had onions for dinner." A military genius, a legend, an American folk hero, George S. Patton, Jr., captured the imagination of the world. His formal education did not begin until age 11, but, in time, he became a voracious reader and later in life published numerous articles on military subjects. He was promoted to colonel in 1938 and temporary brigadier general in 1940. Even though you dont know me, it is a privilege for me to write to you! Pattons memoirs, War as I Knew It, appeared posthumously in 1947. In September things began to go terribly wrong for him. A group of rabbis, still dressed in their concentration camp uniforms, offer prayers at General Pattons grave. Patton saw his first combat soon after leaving Fort Riley. We could beat hell out of them., The following day he in turn was entertained by Marshal F.I. And now, with the war over and her famous husband buried, Beatrice wanted to see Gordon. THIS ARTICLE WAS MOST INTERESTING AND BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND IT SEEMS QUITE LIKELY IT WAS A TRAGIC ACCIDENT. He agreed with Patton that the Russians were the enemy, and said the men on his troop ship heading home were willing to return to Europe and fight the Russians. The cemetery belongs to and is gifted to USA by Luxembourg and hence he is buried on American soil. Thats what your Grandpa did to me. The present internals of the EU certainly reflect that even today. Now we are using them for lack of anyone better until we can get better people.. A jeep driven by Technical Sergeant Joe Spruce followed, carrying the guns and a gun dog. Gen. John J. Pershing and accompanied him on a punitive expedition into Mexico. I despise them. Too bad it should have been the future President who really did do as much as Patton but got the credit. For decades since General George S. Patton's untimely death in December 1945 there have arisen all manner of conspiracy theories regarding it. Allied friends and acquaintances walked behind the casket. They arrived first. American Generals Omar Bradley (1893 - 1981) and George Patton (1885 - 1945) with Secretary of War Henry Stimson (1867 - 1950) It wasn't until 1993 that the first non-fiction book solely on this topic appeared: Death - The Murder of General Patton, privately published by Stephen J. Skubik. Dont disagree with the sentiment Robert, but rearming the Germans would have caused a revolt in the US and would have amounted to political suicide for Truman if he let it happen. Dead and buried in Europe, few will look back at what went on in 1944, which is when the war could have ended had they of listened to him. The fake news that haunted George Washington. At 5:55 p.m. on December 21, 1945, General George S. Patton, Jr. passed away in his sleep. However, the dismissive paragraph regarding the Generals demise is lacking. If you fail to do this, then I would like to say to you that we have had a victory over the Germans and have disarmed them, but have lost the war.. Was General George S. Patton, America's most famous WWII general, murdered in December 1945? It was a wet day, and the ceremony was held, rather inappropriately, inside a gymnasium. This was. The only alternative was resignation. He wrote in his diary, It gave me a very warm feeling in my heart to be back among soldiers. Even so, Patton was pessimistic about the future of Europe, reluctant to get involved in the complexities of military government, and, perhaps more importantly, reluctant to purge the Nazis. On December 22, an Army ambulance brought Pattons body to Villa Renier, where it would lie in state to be visited by friends, soldiers, and the general public. During his final minutes before he died, he asked a fellow soldier, Davy Crockett, to deliver his . His bitterness is very evident: General Clay [Ikes deputy] and General McNarney have never commanded anything, including their own self-respect. No comparison to Ike or Bradley. General Partin was the scientist who developed lasers, cluster bombs, cruise missiles and other precision-guided weapons. He was no fan of the Atomic Bomb -or perhaps that it was largely a creation of Jewish minds His idea of what war was supposed to be was forever changed by atomic weapons.. His attack based agenda worked.. and yes had he been given sufficient resources, the war would have been much shorter and many lives would have been spared as a result The history of Europe since WWII would have been very different.
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