His beloved dog, Willie, was to follow later. He was, indeed, the consummate warrior, steeped in military and well trained for the terrible combat which followed. The ceremony lasted 25 minutes. funny. When Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa led an attack on the border town of Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916, Patton joined the staff of Brig. During the U.S. occupation of Germany, George Patton was commanding the U.S. Fifteenth Army, a paper army gathering historical information about the war. He was promoted to the temporary rank of colonel and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery under fire. Then, with the formalities over, he was finally able to embrace his wife Beatriceit was their first hug in nearly three years. 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. One could perhaps be forgiven for suspecting that Patton saw this as an award to himself the Silver Star was after all conspicuous by its absence among his many decorations. This photo shows Gen. Patton's dog Willie after the general's death. The real hero is the man who fights even though he is scared." 7. 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. His personal ambitions, however, had not been achieved. She was dead within days. Beatrice Banning Ayer (1886 - 1953) - Genealogy Dont let any more Russian bastards into this headquarters.. He knew he was seriously injured and apparently murmured, I think Im paralyzed, and later, This is a helluva way to die.. After knowing how our Soldiers were treated in Japanese Prison Camps, old Gutless left our boys to rot. He was to return to the States for a 30-day bond sales tour. The fake news that haunted George Washington. After the German surrender, Patton campaigned vigorously for a command in the Pacific theatre in the ongoing war against Japan. Unfortunately, he succumbed to his paralysis and breathed his last before the move could be made. Nobody would have thought anything unusual about it, and even would have thought it to be proper. Soon, the five foot five airman would make US military aviation history. This was. Although there was no eulogy, various holy men, including a group of rabbis wearing their concentration camp uniforms, prayed over Pattons grave. Under a large tent to keep the rain away, the pall bearers placed Pattons casket over a grave dug by German prisoners of war. Now we are using them for lack of anyone better until we can get better people.. And so it went on throughout his leaveadulation from family, friends, and the vast majority of the public. 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. YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE. There are many famous and controversial figures to emerge from World War II, but General S. Patton is arguably one of its most controversial. 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. Pattons biographer, Carlo DEste, has suggested that his melancholy and increasingly extraordinary behavior may have been due to brain damage that resulted from a series of head injuries caused by a lifetime of falls from horses and road accidentsthe most serious being an accident in Hawaii in 1936 that had resulted in a two-day blackout. Just Berlin! 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.. General Patton's Death - Accident or Murder? - YouTube A very unique man indeed. It was in Camp 8 near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 60 miles south of Munich, on September 8, 1945, that an incident occurred which was to have severe implications for Pattons future career. He should have been president. On March 1 those forces took Trier, precipitating one of the most famous exchanges of the war. The US would have been defeated if it had gone to war with the Soviet Union in 1945. and just how would the US have succumbed to the Russians? During his first speech that morning he had told his audience that the fact that a soldier was killed in action often made him a fool rather than a hero. There is information (although perhaps not necessarily reaching the level of evidience, be that as it may) of foul play. Modern mechanized armies need a robust logistics chain to provide fuel, ammunition, and other sinews of war to sustain combat operations. His swift conquest of Sicily, his race across France, his relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and his drive into Germany destroyed German armies, saved American lives, and captured the collective imagination of the American public. General George S. Patton, Jr., one of Americas greatest battlefield commanders, died on December 21, 1945 in an Army hospital in Heidelberg, Germany. His tragic death was the end of a great man to which the world owes a debt of gratitude beyond comprehension. Walter T. Patton met his end during the infamous ill-fated attack known as Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg. Patton's wife Beatrice died on September 30, 1953, from a ruptured aneurysm . On April 4, 1941, he was promoted to temporary major general, and a week later he was made commander of the 2nd Armored Division. He had lost none of his quick wit or audacity. Patton was 50, and in the midst of a midlife, between-wars crisis. This picture of Willie, Patton's dog, was taken a few days after the General's death as preparations were made to send home his effects. Here's a wild story about General George Patton, hard-driving hero (and cancelled-in-his-own-time villain) of the U.S. Army during World War II. He was buried in Luxembourg. General William H. Simpson, commander of Ninth Army, has received little attention in the historiography of World War II. Theres no room with the Nationals. But Ive been in Garmish and numerous places where your Grandpa was and it ALWAYS moved me to tears! 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. Mr. Hymel has also worked as the director of research for WWII Historyand WWII Quarterlymagazines, as well as the associate editor of ARMY magazine. George Patton was a brilliant but hot-tempered U.S. Army general who was arguably the Allies most gifted tank commander. George Patton's Widow Put a Deadly Hawaiian Curse on his Mistress Patton obviously saw into the future and what the world would be like in our time with Russia and china. An M3 half-track bore Pattons flag-draped gunmetal casket, escorted by helmeted soldiers wearing white gloves. A niece by marriage of General George S. Patton, some writers claim she had a long affair with Patton, [2] allegedly beginning years before the war [3] and continuing behind the front lines of wartime Europe. That limousine we know from pictures and records was a 1938 Series 75 Cadillac sedan, a rare type. He was met by the officer temporarily holding the fortMaj. While there I was taken by wheelchair to a room which was supposedly that of the hospital room where General Patton had died. Been reading a book about Patton and ran across this. For the years that are left to me I am determined to be free to live as I want and say what I want. This inevitably worried Gay, who surmised, almost certainly correctly, that Patton planned to speak out against Eisenhowers handling of the campaign in Europe and against other senior officers, like Bedell Smith, Hodges, and even Bradley. 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. Woodring was unable to stop in time, and the two vehicles collided at a 90-degree angle, with the right front bumper of the truck smashing the radiator and bumper of the Cadillac. He discovered that the German organization set on behalf of Patton to administer Bavaria was riddled with former Nazis. 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 . (Video: National Archives and Records Administration), Local news, weather, sports, events, restaurants and more. Wikipedia admits it, with footnotes. Get this son-of-a-bitch out of here! 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. It had a swimming pool, bowling alley, and two boats, and had once been owned by Max Amann, the publisher of Hitlers Mein Kampf.
