Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer
Language: English
Pages: 300
ISBN: 1596983264
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
commander for an armored brigade. He concluded by saying, “I shall always be happy to know that you are around close in any capacity when there is fighting to be done.” Patton read in the newspaper soon thereafter that he had received command of the Second Armored Brigade. Patton deserved the appointment notwithstanding his waffling on the role of armor and his defense of the cavalry. It was General Marshall, however, who had noticed Patton and rescued his career from the cavalry. Patton’s
destroyed in a series of increasingly desperate firefights. The last order Baum shouted to his men was “Fan out... make your way west in groups of twos and threes, and go your own way so you won’t be visible. Get as much distance between you and them before they get here. Get going!” With that, Baum himself headed into the woods. As he did he removed his dog tags and threw them into the forest. Baum had heard stories of atrocities being inflicted on Jews in Nazi captivity and wanted to discard
“crack up” under the unrelenting pressures of battle. Prayer does not have to take place in church, but can be offered anywhere. Praying, he said, is “like plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven.” Prayer “completes the circuit. It is power.” To Patton, prayer was a “force multiplier”—when combined with or employed by a combat force, it substantially increases the effectiveness of human efforts and enhances the odds of victory. In this sense, prayer was no different from training,
on. The vow of Humility was got around by the simple expedient of washing a poor man’s feet three times. The vow of Obedience was rigidly enforced. Patton always looked for signs that he was still in God’s favor, especially in times of trouble, and during the firestorm over the slapping incidents, he received it in the form of German artillery shells. In a letter to his wife dated January 11, 1944, Patton described how two German shells had recently struck the spot where he would have been
disciplined valor and mutual confidence which insures success in war. Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived. If it be my lot to die, let me do so with courage and honor in a manner which will bring the greatest harm to the enemy, and please, O Lord, protect and guide those I shall leave behind. Give us the victory, Lord. Amen. Lieutenant General G. S. Patton Jr. United States Army Commanding General, Seventh Army APPENDIX