22 Apr George Patton
George Patton
Who is George Patton?
George Patton, whose full name is George Smith Patton Jr.,
was an American general who is best known for being one of the key leaders of
the Allied forces in World War II.
Early Life
George S. Patton was born into a wealthy family in
California on November 11th, 1885. Patton’s family had a long
history with the military. In fact, Patton’s grandfather and great uncle were
killed in the American Civil War, while fighting for the Confederacy. Patton
grew up living a privileged lifestyle. While he was a child, he developed a
particular interest in military history and the military in general.
For this reason, he decided to attend the Virginia Military
Institute. He spent a year there before transferring to the U.S. Military
Academy at West Point in New York, where he graduated in 1909. George Patton
was also a great athlete and was selected to compete in the 1912 Olympic Games
in Stockholm, Sweden in the Modern Pentathlon. He came in fifth out of 42
contestants.
Early Military Career
When Patton left West Point, he was commissioned as a second
lieutenant in the cavalry, and was stationed at Fort Riley, Kansas. Patton’s
first combat mission was a raid against a Mexican revolutionary named Pancho
Villa who had led an attack against Columbus, New Mexico. Soon after this,
Patton was involved in World War I. He was the first U.S. army officer to be
appointed to the brand-new Tank Corps.
During this time, Patton developed great skill as a tank
commander and amassed a large amount of knowledge about tank warfare that would
serve him the rest of his life. In World War I, he proved to be a highly
effective tank commander and won the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery
under fire. He was also promoted to colonel.
World War II
Patton remained in the army after World War I ended. He also
attended the Army War College. In 1940, he was promoted to brigadier general.
In 1941, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Armored Division. In
1942, when the Allied forces began fighting in North Africa, Patton oversaw the
landings in Casablanca, Morocco. Patton led his forces through many battles in
North Africa against the Nazis before he led the U.S. 7th Army into
Sicily and other parts of Italy.
He developed a reputation for being extremely capable,
tough, and effective as a military leader. He placed a great deal of emphasis
on speed and tenacity. This speed and tenacity proved to be highly valuable
when Patton was put in charge of commanding the Third Army in France following
the Normandy invasion. Patton’s Third Army moved quickly and with great
ferocity across France, recapturing territory from the Nazis very quickly. In
fact, within just one month after Patton’s Third Army was put into action in
France, they had recaptured Mayenne, Laval, Reims, Le Mans, and Chalons.
Patton and his Third Army chased the retreating Nazis all
the way across France, but they had to stop before entering Germany because of
supply line issues. In December of 1944, Hitler and the Nazis launched a huge
counter-offensive which came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.
In this battle, the 101rst Airborne Division of the U.S.
army became encircled by the German Army. It became Patton’s task to break
through the German army to rescue the 101rst Airborne. Patton and his third
army succeeded and rescued the 101rst Airborne troops before they were wiped
out or forced to surrender. Patton was major reason why the Allied Forces won
the Battle
of the Bulge and forced the German army to retreat once more.
By the end of the war, Patton’s Third Army had suffered
137,000 casualties, but it inflicted ten times that many on the enemy, thus
proving to be a crucial part of what would become an overall Allied victory in
World War II.
Death
After the War in
Europe ended, Patton was involved in a bad car accident on December 9th,
1945. He died twelve days later as a result of injuries sustained in the
accident. Some people speculate that he was actually assassinated. This is
still debated to this day.
