Historical Figure
George S. Patton
1885–1945
United States Army general (1885–1945)
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Biography
George Smith Patton Jr. was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, then the Third Army in France and Germany after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
In Their Own Words (5)
Now in war we are confronted with conditions which are strange If we accept them we will never win. Since being realistic, as in mundane combats fistic We will get a bloody nose and that's a sin.
Stanza 1 of "Absolute War" a poem composed by Patton in July 1944, during Operation Cobra as quoted in The Patton Papers 1940-1945 (1996) edited by Martin Blumenson p. 492 , 1944
Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.
As quoted in Textbook of Phacoemulsification (1988) by William F. Maloney and Lincoln Grindle, p. 79 , 1988
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
Speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts (7 June 1945), quoted in Patton : Ordeal and Triumph (1970) by Ladislas Farago , 1945
A good plan violently executed right now is far better than a perfect plan executed next week.
War as I knew it (1947), as cited in Oxford Essential Quotations (4th ed.), By Susan Ratcliffe. , 1947
Always do everything you ask of those you command.
As quoted in I Remember General Patton's Principles (1984) by Porter B. Williamson, p. 174 , 1984
Timeline
The story of George S. Patton, told in moments.
Competes in the modern pentathlon at the Stockholm Olympics, finishing fifth. He designs a new cavalry saber (the M1913 "Patton Saber") for the U.S. Army and studies sword fighting in France.
Leads the Western Task Force during Operation Torch, landing at Casablanca. His first taste of World War II combat. Within months, he's sent to salvage the demoralized II Corps in Tunisia after the disaster at Kasserine Pass. He turns them around in 11 days.
Slaps two shell-shocked soldiers in field hospitals in Sicily, calling them cowards. Eisenhower nearly sends him home. Instead, Patton is pulled from command and used as a decoy for D-Day, leading a fake army group aimed at Calais to fool the Germans.
His Third Army breaks the German encirclement at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. He'd pivoted 250,000 men 90 degrees and marched them 100 miles in 48 hours through snow and ice. No other commander in the war achieves anything comparable.
Dies of a pulmonary embolism in a Heidelberg hospital, 12 days after a car accident in Mannheim breaks his neck. He is 60. Buried alongside his soldiers at the Luxembourg American Cemetery. His grave is plain.
Artifacts (1)
3c General George S. Patton plate proof
Bureau of Engraving and Printing
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