General George S. Patton
Jim Turley
Wayland Baptist University

Patton was graduated from West Point in June 1909. Patton first assignment was at Fort Sheridan, near Chicago. Patton used his family influence to secure a tour of duty at Fort Myer in Washington, D.C. While at Tort Myer, he met and aided General John J. Pershing when the latter was ordered into Mexico in 1916. Patton, who served with distinction in Mexico, regarded Pershing as a model soldier and continued to serve as his aide when the latter was chosen to head the American Expeditionary Force to France in 1917. Once in France, Patton relinquished his staff position for a combat command. He was particularly interested in the tank, which promised to be the cavalry arm of the modern army. Patton dreamed of leading a tank unit in combat. That dream became a reality during the St. Mihiel campaign. During a firefight, Patton was wounded, but he continued to direct his tanks to their targets. When the newspapers ran the story of the “Hero of the Tanks” who directed his men while lying wounded in a shellhole, Patton became an instant hero. Patton won the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal, during the ST. Mihiel campaign. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall changed all that. The German Blitzkrieg convinced Marshall that the U.S. Army needed an armored force. Marshall ordered to create two armored divisions and chosen Patton to command the Second Armored Division. In command of the Second Armored Division, Patton won fame as “Hell on Wheels.” During the Sicilian campaign, Patton turned adversity into advantage by taking the historic town of Palermo and then beating General Bernard Law Montgomery and the vaunted British Eighth Army to Messina.
Patton’s accomplishments as commander of the Third Army were truly remarkable. His forces liberated almost all of France north of the Loire River and were responsible for relieving the besieged 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne during the Ardennes Offensive. Patton considered the latter to be the Third Army’s most brilliant operation and “the most outstanding achievement of this war.” His death prompted a flood of praise, most of which paid tribute to his skills as a great fighting general. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, who, in a postwar interview with American military personnel, said simply, “Patton was your best.”

References

Essame, H. (2000). Patton: As Military Commander. [N.p.]: Combined Publishing.

Ford, K. J. (2014). George S. Patton. Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia,

LOVELACE, A. G. (2014). The Image of a General. Journalism History, 40(2), 108-120.