Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: thats working. He came in fifth. . Lying in a bomb crater, surrounded by the horrors of war, Pattonwas overwhelmed by a deep feeling of warmth and peace, comfortand love. In his many trials, Patton turned to God and found remarkable serenity. I have complete confidence that you will not fail. . He was comforted by his unshakeable faith, a faith hehad held since childhood and that he had carefully nurtured everyday since. Shoot them in the guts. Thirty years from now, when youare sitting around the fireside with your grandson onyour knee and he asks what you did in the great WorldWar II, you wont have to say, I shoveled shit in Louisiana.. 1935 May 7 Patton departed Los Angeles for Hawaii. September 26 Patton was seriously wounded during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France. To beat such men, you must not despise their ability, but you must be confident in your own superiority. Her fundamental text-book was the Bible. He took an interest in tanks and studied this emerging form of mobile weaponry with intensity. . General Patton again called me to his office. I dont want them to. We are not trying to make the best of these days. The Saar campaign was launched on November 8, 1944. There was General Hugh Mercer, mortallywounded at the battle of Princeton in the Revolutionary War. Praying, he said, is like plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven. Prayer completes the circuit. After hanging up, ONeill looked out at the immoderate rains that had plagued the Third Armys operations for the past three months. On the battlefield, he was a competent commander respected by both sides. Ambitions thwarted, his thirst for action still would not be denied. 62 of 70 found this interesting | Share this The Third Army has no roster of Retreats. Americans love to fight, traditionally. Coy Eklund, an officer on Pattons staff, confirms a story about Pattons insistence on inspirational sermons: It is no myth that one Sunday morning, after attending church services as he always did, he stalked into my office in the Army barracks in Nancy, France, where I was the senior duty officer. Even if you arehit, you can still fight back. 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.. We straight-arm, and go around, anddodge, and go around . April 14 Patton was promoted to the permanent rank of general. The reputation of our army, the future of our race, your own glory rests in your hands. But aside from his ardor for his duties and his active social life with the right sort of people, Patton was starting to make his mark as an athleteindeed, in 1912 he represented the United States at the Olympics, competing in the modern pentathlon, which tested a competitors equestrian skills with a steeplechase, marksmanship with a pistol, fencing, swimming three hundred yards, and running cross country two and a half miles. When armyand navy personnel rushed up to see him, Patton stood and delivered a short impromptu speech: Im proud to be here to fight beside you. We had about 486 chaplains in the Third Army at that time, representing 32 denominations. The title of the "Gen. George S. Patton biopic" was changed to Blood and Guts, as announced in the 17 Apr 1968 DV. France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia bear witness to your exploits. It was quite impressive. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. So Patton sat down at his desk, signed the card, and returned it to ONeill. . Eisenhower was self-effacing and came from dirt-poor beginnings. 1932 June 2 Patton was awarded the Purple Heart for a wound sustained in 1918. . 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. General James Rusling, "Interview with President William McKinley," The Christian Advocate 22 January 1903, 17. Patton decried this national mood and the dismantling of the army in a letter to his sister dated October 18, 1919: The United States in general and the army in particular is in a hell of a mess and there seems to be no end to it . It was in this capacity that Patton met Field Marshal Haig. His active military duty lasted from 1909 to 1945. Part of our passion was our belief in tanksa belief derided at the time by others.The two men shared a detailed knowledge of the mechanical workings of tanks and an appreciation of their potential strategic uses beyond mere assistance to the infantry. Throughout the speech (Appendix 1) General Patton emphasises certain themes (Appendices 2 and 3 . He led the tanks from the front during the march to the Battle of Saint-Miheil, and walked in front of the into the German-held village of Essey in order to inspire his men. There were enough supplies, however, for one army. He died at the age of 60 and he died in a freak accident after the war had been won. It gives you a thrill and my eyes filled with tears . I dont yield to any man in my reverence to the Lord, but God damn it, no sermon needs to take longer than ten minutes. For Gods sake, send some gasoline.. . 5 were distributed by December 14. Were not just going to shoot the sons of bitches, weregoing to rip out their living goddamned guts and usethem to grease the treads of our tanks. Whenat last the men got five tanks across the breach, Patton exhorted themto advance again, yelling and cursing and waving his walking stick. . If theres any doubt in any of your Goddamn minds that Im going to be paralyzed for the rest of my life, lets cut out all this horse-shit right now and let me die, Patton lashed out. But the twomen were caught in enemy crossfire, and rescuing Patton seemedimpossible. The author/ speaker 2. Patton benefited from having six years of formal military education. 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. I want to pin a medal on him.. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stayalive. ), Patton also requested the help of the press corps in informing the Germans that four of his armored divisions were slashing away at them. And dontgive the enemy time to dig one either. If the band played a piece first with the piccolo, then withthe brass horn, then with the clarinet, and then withthe trumpet, there would be a hell of a lot of noise butno music. This article is part of our larger selection of postsabout the George S. Patton. . The shortest way home isthrough Berlin and Tokyo. Like the rest of the world, General Patton learned of the Normandy invasion by listening to the BBC at seven oclock on the morning of June 6, 1944. Rip them up the belly. A student of history, Patton was keenly aware of weathers role in a major operation or campaign. "Patton" (1970) General George Smith Patton, Jr. Confident in his own religious convictions and his knowledge of the Bible, Patton did not hesitate publicly to contradict a chaplains sermon, as this diary entry for Armistice Day, 1943, reveals: We went to a Memorial Service at the cemetery at 1100. HistoryOnTheNet 2000-2019. Two weeks later, one of the most severe storms ever to strike Normandy sank or disabled a number of Allied ships and wiped out the American Mulberry artificial harbor off Omaha Beach. We took off by plane for Jerusalem at 0700 and crossed the canal just south of Lake Tenes, which is near where the children of Israel crossed. As chaplains it is our business to pray. This was particularly true before 1800, when the knights had a sort of stranglehold on the privateering business in the Mediterranean and used their hatred for the Turks as a means of veiling their personally conducted piracy against Turks and against anyone else whom they could catch. On February 14, 1943, Rommels Tenth and Twenty-first Panzer Divisions of the Afrika Korps launched an attack against the U.S. position. By June 1920, the regular army was reduced to only 130,000 men. He asked her what time it was, and when she told him, he said that he was tired and told her she should go eat dinner; they could finish the chapter when she returned. . . Preachers who committed that particular sin he called pulpit killers. Clergy-men who insisted thou shalt not kill knew less about the Bible than he did, Patton argued. Click here to see more articles in this category. . As blood poured from his wound,he serenely contemplated his own death. The cards and Training Letter No. He talked about Gideon in the Bible, said that men should pray no matter where they were, in church or out of it, that if they did not pray, sooner or later they would crack up. To all this I commented agreement, that one of the major training objectives of my office was to help soldiers recover and make their lives effective in this third realm, prayer. 2. Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army? inquired the general. As they visited, Patton told his wife, I guess I wasnt good enough. She knew he was referring to his desire to die in battle, as his ancestors had done. The Famous Patton Speech By Charles M. Province . Keep moving. Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. His aunt read to him three to four hours a day. December 9 Patton sustained spinal cord and neck injuries in an automobile accident near Neckarstadt, Germany. When, in 1916, General Pershing was ordered to lead a punitive expedition into Mexico, Pattons regimentand Pattonwere to stay behind in Texas. He wanted torun. The opening scene-his famous "blood and guts" speech to his troops as they prepared to go into battle for the first time-remains one of the most famous scenes and greatest speeches in movie history. But he was nevertheless punctilious about gentlemanly conduct. . Does the general mean by chaplains, or by the men? asked ONeill. An armored division is the most powerful organizationever devised by the mind of men . We did not see a single beehive, although there were quite a number of mimosa trees. The pommels of Crusaders swords were usually carved in the form of a stone or a piece of lead, which in an earlier date had actually been tied there. . JulyAugust Patton received individual instruction in fencing at Saumur, France. When Kublai Khan attacked the Japanese island of Kyushu with his fleet of forty-four hundred ships in 1281, he encountered a typhoon that destroyed half his fleet. 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] . Perhaps most famous for his commanding of the 7th Army during World War II, Old "Blood and Guts" often gave rousing speeches to motivate, inspire, and educate his soldiers. I wouldnt give a hoot in hell for aman who lost and laughed. Americans will not tolerate aloser. . On September 26, at 10 oclock, Patton and his men had advanced to a crossroads on the southern edge of Cheppy. 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. Patton's Speech to the Third Army was a series of speeches given by General George S. Patton to troops of the United States Third Army in 1944, prior to the Allied invasion of France. It appears as a footnote in War As I Knew It, a book based on Pattons diaries and published in 1947, after his death. He sought topresent the striking image of a leader, an image that demanded attention and inspired his troops by its swagger. 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. 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. Patton felt the loss of camaraderie and sense of purpose. . He had a massive library, a "who's who," of ancient and modern war.. Death must not be feared. . . . . July 6 Patton secretly flew into Normandy, France, while the Germans still believed he would lead the main invading force at Pas de Calais. . But Patton would have none of this. I should think the distance is less than half a mile. September 22 Taken out of context, Pattons careless comparison of Nazi Party members in Germany to Democratic Party or Republican Party members in the United States stirred much controversy. The coward is the one who lets his fear overcome his sense of duty. George S. Patton Inspirational, Motivational, Positive 307 Copy quote Pray by night and pray by day. On November 7, 1942, there was a storm but it stopped at 1600. He hadshown his courage and faced his fears. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get thebastards who started it. Although I looked very carefully, I could see no indication of the fighting, but I did recognize the cactus hedge where the tanks got stuck. The quicker they are whipped,the quicker we can go home. Pattons presence was still asecret to the enemy. My men dont dig foxholes. General Pattons adjutant, Colonel Harkins, later wrote: Whether it was the help of the Divine guidance asked for in the prayer or just the normal course of human events, we never knew; at any rate, on the twenty-third, the day after the prayer was issued, the weather cleared and remained perfect for about six days. When war erupted in France in 1914, Patton wanted to take up the sword in earnest, fighting in the French army. HistoryOnTheNet 2000-2019. It was useless to try to move from the relative safety ofthe small hollow blown in the earth. 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. He announced that the Third Army would shortly capture its 230,000th prisoner of war. August 10 Patton visited the 93rd Evacuation Hospital in Sicily, Italy, and berated Private Paul Bennett for cowardice. Each treated of a variety of subjects of corrective or training value to a chaplain working with troops in the field. Patton delivered many speeches during the war and some of the soldiers who heard his words recounted them in the following years. Patton's first action was to take control of North Africa and Morocco. Uncertain of the role, if any, he might play in the coming invasion of Europe, Patton took a sightseeing trip to the Holy Land and Malta. 4. The termination of fighting in Europe does not remove the oppor-tunities for other outstanding and equally difficult achievements in the days which are to come. . Patton's speeches typically included humor, almost always profane and often self-deprecatory: I do not know of a better way to die than to be facing the enemy. Patton was as much an actor as he was a fine general. When he reached the other side of the river, Patton pretended to stumble, imitating William the Conqueror, who famously fell on his face when landing in England but transformed the bad omen into a propitious one by leaping to his feet with a handful of English soil, claiming it portended his complete possession of the country. I want to talk to you about this business of prayer. Patton rubbed his face in his hands, sat silently for a moment, then rose up and walked to the high window of the office where he stood with his back to ONeill, watching the falling rain. As the official British history notes, it wasthe most complex and successful deception operation in the entirehistory of the war., A month after the Normandy invasion, secretly landing at an airstripnear Omaha Beach, Patton entered a waiting jeep. Dont ever think that your job is unimportant. We were taken through this by the librarian. 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