945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130info@nationalww2museum.org Along with the faux pas committed during his Boston speech, Pattons past indiscretions continued to dog him. Patton's final resting place is in Luxembourg American Cemetery in Luxembourg. It would be real fun killing Mongols. 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. Just like Churchill was a great war leader. They range from the improbable plot of Brass Target, a 1978 film starring George Kennedy as an overweight Patton who was allegedly assassinated in order to stop his investigation of a gold heist by . Patton and Gay left Bad Nauheim at about 0900 hours on December 9 in Pattons 1939 Model 75 Cadillac driven by Pfc. There were, of course, no seat belts in those days, and whereas Gay and Woodring, having seen the oncoming truck, had braced themselves for the impact, Patton, who had been looking out the side window, had not. Ike told him they were both already filled. After knowing how our Soldiers were treated in Japanese Prison Camps, old Gutless left our boys to rot. When a reporter asked the rabbis why they prayed for an anti-Semite, they explained that Pattons generalship ended the war months earlier than it would have without him, thus saving the lives of thousands of concentration camp victims. Patton was 50, and in the midst of a midlife, between-wars crisis. A destroyed and bankrupted Europe would not have supported war against Stalin. Extremely captivating story and well written with plenty of facts to back up the story. Beatrice is said to have declared, I can hardly speak, Im so overcome. Simply put: Patton had broken his neck. Patton made a short farewell speech, which began with the words All good things must come to an end and ended with Goodbye and God bless you. A band then played Auld Lang Syne, the Third Army flag was handed over, and Patton left to the music of the Third Army march and Hes a Jolly Good Fellow. After a luncheon in his honor, he left in the Third Army train for his new headquarters in Bad Nauheim, 20 miles north of Frankfurt. One of Pattons last acts before handing over command was to award a Silver Star to his driver of more than four years, Master Sergeant John Mims. Patton could never forgive Ike for removing him from command of the Third Army. For decades since General George S. Patton's untimely death in December 1945 there have arisen all manner of conspiracy theories regarding it. Too bad it should have been the future President who really did do as much as Patton but got the credit. But Eisenhowers mind was made up. No battle of the Bulge and probably a million plus lives saved, military and civilian. It is for me personally another very sad thought. This article was published more than6 years ago. The ceremony lasted 25 minutes. 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. General Patton was struck down the day before he was scheduled to make a triumphant return to the United States. At 1630 hours it began its journey to Luxembourg where it arrived at 0400 hours on the 24th. He always said Patton saved my life, I would not be home by now, but a war prisoner in Russia. With hind sight many people think if we would have went to war right away with the Russians things would be different today. May the Great Worm gnaw your vitals, Beatrice pronounced, uttering what DEste said was a feared curse she had learned in Hawaii years before. 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. At one stage the officer responsible for USFET Civil Affairs, Clarence Adcock, was summoned and he brought Professor Dorn into the room with him. German 10th army escaped to the defensive line and prolonged the war in Italy. His strict discipline, toughness, and self-sacrifice elicited exceptional pride within his ranks, and the general was colourfully referred to as Old Blood-and-Guts by his men. 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. Showing a few signs of recovery, his doctors put him in a body cast to prepare him for a flight home to the United States. This is the offical version of the accident and death. She was the same age as Patton's daughters, and in her youth spent most of her holidays with the extended Patton family. As has been said before in various iterations; you go to war with what you have, not what you wish you had. The intersection where Patton had his car accident. The more I see of people, the more I regret I survived the war. He even accused the U.S. Treasury Secretary of Semitic revenge against Germany., On July 16, the Potsdam Conference convened, and Patton, resplendent with 20 stars and ivory-handled pistols, was in Berlin to see Truman preside over the raising of the American flag in the U.S. sector of the divided former German capital. Death 6 Oct 1928 (aged 67) San Gabriel, Los Angeles County, California, USA. It is hell to be old and pass and know it., In his despondency, Patton reverted to the things he liked and did bestoverseeing the training and discipline of his Army, riding, hunting, and readingand for exercise he added a squash court to his residence. Patton (1970), a film biography directed by Franklin Schaffner and starring George C. Scott in the title role, won seven Academy Awards, including one for best picture. But any satisfaction Patton might have derived from this report was to be short-lived. He was one of several notable personalities I briefly crossed paths. With blood covering his face and scalp from cuts that had gone through to the bone, he was diagnosed as having a fracture of the third cervical vertebra, with a posterior dislocation of the fourth cervical vertebra. Whether or not the spinal cord had been transected or merely traumatized remained a matter of conjecture. I think it is amusing that no one tries to get any [medals] for me. It is my opinion that this talking cooperation is for the purpose of covering up probable criticism of strategic blunders which he unquestionably committed during the campaign. He entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1903 but transferred to theU.S. Military Academy at West Point after just one year. Laterwhile attending the Mounted Service School in Fort Riley, KansasPatton was designated an instructor of swordsmanship and received the title Master of the Sword. United States History - Biography of George S. Patton Jr. Library of Congress - George S. Patton Papers: Diaries, 1910 to 1945 - Timeline, George Patton - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, and Bernard Montgomery, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George Patton, Eisenhower, Dwight D.; Patton, George; Bradley, Omar. I wish I were young enough to fight in the next one [war]. He wrote in his diary, If we let Germany and the German people be completely disintegrated and starved, they will certainly fall for Communism, and the fall of Germany for Communism will write the epitaph of democracy in the United States. Too bad he died. The cemetery belongs to and is gifted to USA by Luxembourg and hence he is buried on American soil. For accurate reading concerning Patton, read Patton The Man Behind The Legend, 1885-1945. But Gordon had reappeared in Europe during the war, alarming Beatrice. This photo shows Gen. Patton's dog Willie after the general's death. Soon, the five foot five airman would make US military aviation history. and George. 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. When Gay did so, Patton barked, Go ahead Hap, work my fingers.. Pattons personal residence was a palatial house on nearby Lake Tegernsee. For the next 12 days, Patton lay in traction, at times with painful fishhooks implanted into his cheeks on either side of his upper jaw, attached to weights to stabilize his neck. Patton Museum: Death Car. "May the Great Worm gnaw your vitals," Beatrice Patton declared to Jean Gordon. 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. Now we are using them for lack of anyone better until we can get better people.. In the opening strokes of the Battle of the Bulge, platoon leader Vernon McGarity distinguished himself in combat, inspired his men, and saved lives while delaying the onslaught of German forces. The result . He was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant general in March 1943 and led the U.S. 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. Adcocks civilian deputy, Walter Dorn, was a history professor on leave from Ohio State University. 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.. One news service said pictures of the general were strewn around her. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Most of his time, however, was spent preparing his book War As I Knew It. Benjamin W. Patton stands with his father, Gen. George Patton in 1978 at the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia. The latter then skillfully and ruthlessly demonstrated that the Fritz Schaeffer administration in Bavaria was full of former Nazis. My language was not particularly politic, but I have yet to find where politic language produces successful government. 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 told them, while his wife was out of the room, that he believed his luck had run out. In August this year, I was at American cemetery in Luxembourg where General Patton is buried. I dont like the Nazis any more than you do. 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. The treaty that Hitler hated even more than the Treaty of Versailles and one of the most important treaties you have probably never heard of. Patton opened a drawer, pulled out a pistol, slammed it down on his desk, and raged, Goddamnit! Mark . . The bugler played the soft, sad notes of Taps.. A first-generation American of Lebanese descent, James Jabara was intent on being a fighter pilot. In the gray skies above, an aircraft circled, attempting to bring Lieutenant General Walton Walker, one of Pattons former corps commanders, to the funeral, but low cloud cover prevented it from landing. The highlight was perhaps a reenactment of the 1912 Olympic pistol competitionPatton came second, 13 points better than I made in 1912., The Swedish trip was the last highlight of Pattons life. The two men did not get on. His removal by General Eisenhower was an acknowledgement of that mistake. My record on that is clear and unchallengeable. He was a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy during World War II, when his father, General George S . When Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa led an attack on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916, Patton joined the staff of Brig.