George Smith Patton Jr., or “Old Blood and Guts” as his troops knew him, was one of the most successful and prominent American generals in World War II. Patton was known for his brash yet effective strategies, as well as his intense bloodlust and aggressiveness that earned him the nickname that his troops gave him. The Germans held him in high regard, believing him to be one of the Allies’ greatest generals. Yet Patton was not destined for greatness from the beginning, although destiny certainly played a role.
Patton was born in San Gabriel, California, into a family with a long military history. From an early age, Patton dreamed of becoming a soldier and fighting for his country, just as his ancestors did in the Revolutionary and Civil War. After graduating from West Point as 46th in his class and after repeating his first year, Patton was drafted for the 1912 Stockholm Olympics as a Pentathlon athlete. Patton placed fifth overall, scoring especially high marks for his fencing skills. In fact, Patton was an expert swordsmen, one of the foremost fencers in the United States in his time. He taught swordsmanship to cavalry and even designed his own sword. After the Olympics, Patton was called into service against the Mexicans after Pancho Villa’s terror raid in the U.S. Patton distinguished himself in this mission, but his military success would come later in WWI. During WWI, Patton became the first officer assigned to the newly created Tank Corps and would go on to earn a reputation for his leadership and his acute knowledge of tank warfare. In the famed battle of Meuse-Argonne, Patton was injured yet continued to lead his men, and this would later earn him the Purple Heart.
However, the true zenith of Patton’s military career would come in WWII, where he, now a general, would lead highly successful offensives in Northern Africa, Sicily, and France. However, Patton’s rowdy personality and explosive temper led to controversy, when in an Italian field hospital Patton slapped two soldiers suffering from shell shock, accusing them of cowardice. His reputation suffered as result, and he was denied the right to participate the D-Day invasion that he desired to lead. Instead, as part of Operation Fortitude, Patton was placed at the helm of a fake army, one consisting of wooden planes and rubber tanks. He was told to march around, making as if he was giving orders to actual soldiers. The Germans fell for this, believing that because of Patton’s value as a general, there would certainly be an invasion of Calais. Even several weeks after D-Day the Germans kept troops stationed to defend against the invasion that would never come.
Patton would go on to help with the invasion of Germany and the defeat of the Nazis, yet he did not live through the war. He died in a most interesting fashion, after breaking his neck in a car crash and then dying several days later. In fact, new evidence has come to light that suggests Patton may have been assassinated by the United States government. Patton had been threatening to expose collusion with the Soviet government that led to losses of American lives, and as a result, he was ordered killed. The assassin’s diary reveals how the car crash was orchestrated, and how he broke Patton’s neck with a low-velocity projectile. In his recovery, Patton was poisoned by the NKVD, the precursor to the KGB. This is shocking evidence, and if true may spark a controversy regarding the treatment of American forces in times of war. Patton truly lived an illustrious life, and his name will forever be remembered in the hall of warriors.
Wow I would never have thought that Patton would die in such an anti climactic way. Its great that you added that in to show how the US was not 100% clean in this war. I also really liked how you explained his importance in the war even though he was not allowed to lead in D-day by helping create diversion with the germans spreading their lines thin. Patton was one of the major generals that lead the way in operation Husky which was the operation in Sicily. One of the reasons that it was so easy to capture sicily was because Hitler convinced that that attack was a diversion and they would truly attack north at either corsica or sardinia. Patton succesfully lead the invasion and that is one of the reasons he was seen as such a good general. Of course as you described his actions of glory are also countered by his rash behavior with his soldiers.In fact he didnt believe in PTSD.
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