When Patton Enlisted the Entire Third Army to Pray for Fair Weather, How Did Patton Die? Sergeant Mims, his regular driver, was in the hospital, and a substitute was at the wheel. On or about the fourteenth of December, 1944, General Patton called Chaplain ONeill, Third Army Chaplain, and myself into his office in Third Headquarters at Nancy. Patton read it and directed that it be circulated without change to all of the Third Armys 486 chaplains, as well as to every organization commander down to and including the regimental level. Patton's Speech to the Third Army was a series of speeches given by General George S. Patton to troops of the United States Third Army in 1944, prior to the Allied invasion of France. His diary entry for November 7, 1944, reads: Two years ago today we were on the Augusta approaching Africa, and it was blowing hard. In some ways the immediate future will demand of you more fortitude than has the past because, without the inspiration of combat, you must maintainby your dress, deportment, and efficiencynot only the prestige of the Third Army but also the honor of the United States. . Throughout his life he prayed daily and attended church almost every Sunday, even in wartime. It is almost completely covered with villages and the areas between them are crowded with tiny fields. . Thetrouser legs were skinny and shoved into his black, laced-up fieldboots. . . We had about 486 chaplains in the Third Army at that time, representing 32 denominations. . Both men were commanding tank units. Few would have predicted that Eisenhower would become the most brilliant star of the West Point class of 1915the class the stars fell on.. You have made your Army a fighting force that is not excelled in effectiveness by any other of equal size in the world, and I am very proud of the fact that you, as one of the fighting commanders who has been with me from the beginning of the African campaign, have performed so brilliantly throughout. I pray that I will fall forward when I amshot. Americans love to fight. As they visited, Patton told his wife, I guess I wasnt good enough. She knew he was referring to his desire to die in battle, as his ancestors had done. The General rose, came from behind his desk with hand out-stretched and said, Chaplain, youre the most popular man in this Headquarters. General Patton: Be seated. . I dont want to get any messages saying, I am holdingmy position. We are not holding a goddamned thing. In 1915, he was sent to Fort Bliss, Texas, where the cavalry troops were all turned out in Patton swords: It was a fine sight all with sabers drawn and all my sabers. They were traveling at about thirty-five miles per hour when an army truck turned from a side road into their path. Patton lost his rank of colonel and reverted to captain. It would be better to attack as soon as Bradley could provide him with supplies. 1932 June 2 Patton was awarded the Purple Heart for a wound sustained in 1918. After two hours, Pattons tankers and the 138th Regiment of theThirty-fifth Division subdued the Germans and seized the village ofCheppy. to bea one-handed puncher. From the canal we flew along the line of Allenbys advance and crossed at Wadi El Arish at the spot where the battle occurred. What was coming now? There is one great thing you men will be able to saywhen you go home. 1938 July 1 Patton was promoted to the permanent rank of colonel. Patton was carried off to an ambulance. Patton began his military career . . . At the end of 1917 he was assigned to establish the American Expeditionary Force Light Tank School. October 17 Patton was promoted to the temporary rank of colonel. Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army? inquired the general. I want the praying done., Chaplain ONeill: Yes, sir. All the faces looked at Patton impersonally, as if waiting forhim to join them. Foxholesonly slow up an offensive. He wrote to his wife from his hospital bed on 12 October 1918, saying, Peace looks possible, but I rather hope not for I would like to have a few more fights. It lives, sleeps, eats, and fights as ateam. . He talked about Gideon in the Bible, said that men should pray no matter where they were, in church or out of it, that if they did not pray, sooner or later they would crack up. To all this I commented agreement, that one of the major training objectives of my office was to help soldiers recover and make their lives effective in this third realm, prayer. . In his new book George S. Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer, author Michael Keane takes readers on a journey through Patton's career in three parts: his military prowess, his inspirational. We are not trying to make the best of these days. The real hero is the man whofights even though he is scared . Whenat last the men got five tanks across the breach, Patton exhorted themto advance again, yelling and cursing and waving his walking stick. George C. Scott, portraying Patton, standing in front of an immensely huge American flag, delivers his version of Patton's "Speech to the Third Army" on June 5th, 1944, the eve of the Allied invasion . George S. Patton: On Guts, Glory, and Winning relies on the writings, speeches, and poems of George Patton, and includes his prayer to stop the rain during the battle of northern Europe. That is fearless and untiring in doing our duty as we see it.Patton concluded with a list of recommendations for good behavior and decorum, essentially acting as Colonel Manners. By God, I do! He spoke to his men like it, and they returned a response of almost mechanised fighting ability. Ambitions thwarted, his thirst for action still would not be denied. We're going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket. Wade into them, spill their blood or they will spill . They werefaces of his ancestors. Pestilence and famine have not touched us. Eisenhower had not been sent off to France during the war but had established and run the largest tank training center in the United StatesCamp Colt, at Get-tysburg, Pennsylvania. ), Patton also requested the help of the press corps in informing the Germans that four of his armored divisions were slashing away at them. That way I can keep firing my pistols! He was a communicant of the Episcopal Church, but he studied the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita. . Patton made the same point a few years later, after the invasion of Sicily: I had all the non-Catholic chaplains in the other day and gave them hell for having uninteresting services. Beersheba and the surrounding country do not look too difficult, but certainly away from the wells the country is an absolute sand sea, and it is difficult to understand how Allenby ever moved a cavalry corps across it. On the battlefield, he was a competent commander respected by both sides. He attended the West Point Military Academy but along with his friend, Courtney Hodges, was forced to leave after a year because of poor test results. Heservedin numerous staff positions throughout the country. George S. Patton was one of America's most famous and colorful generals. The outcome of that battle, and possibly of the entire Allied war effort in Europe, would turn on the weather. All realAmericans love the sting and clash of battle. But we are not ruthless, not vicious, not aggressive, therein lies our weakness. The events of the war stayed with him the rest of his life. Im tired of these soldiers having to fight mud and floods as well as Germans. 20th Century Timeline Of World History: What Happened? . Were going tomurder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel-f***ingbasket. No one can live under the awful responsibility that I have without Divine help, he wrote. He commented at length on the four vows that each knight took upon induction into the order: on poverty, chastity, humility, and obedience. He is remembered for his heroic march to halt the Nazi's December 1944 offensive in the Battle of the Bulge and also for slapping Sergeant Charles Kuhl and Private Paul Bennett, August 1943, for cowardice while they were in an army hospital. ONeill maintains that he told Patton over the telephone that he would research the topic and report back to him within an hour. It was a two-piece dark greencorduroy outfit. Keep moving. 1916 March 13 Patton detached from 8th Cavalry and attached to headquarters, Punitive Expedition, Mexico. Even if you arehit, you can still fight back. He gave us a British priest, who had lived a long time in Jerusalem, as a guide to see the sights. On Christmas Eve, General Patton and Omar Bradley attended a candle-light church service in Luxembourg City, sitting in a box once used by Kaiser Wilhelm II. After lunching with the Commanding General, we drove back to the airfield and flew back to Cairo along the coast, passing over Gaza. Paperback. He was ecumenical in his beliefs, writing that God was probably indifferent in the way he was approached, but he opposed his daughters marriage to a Roman Catholic. I should think the distance is less than half a mile. The 1970 film "Patton" starts out the way the real Gen. George S. Patton would have wanted it to: with one of the famed general's off-the-cuff, down-to-reality speeches to his men in the 3rd Army. Audio mp3 of Address delivered by George C. Scott. . 1944 March 26 Task Force Baum heads out for Hammelburg to liberate the prisoner of war camp there. March 24 Patton urinated into the Rhine River. It is a much less formidable obstacle than I had gathered from the books. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945), a four-star U.S. general in full millitary dress. It is now 0230 and raining hard. Not surprisingly, the chaplain concluded his sermon exactly ten minutes later. June 11 Became Distinguished Graduate, Army War College. As he came closer to the German lines, Patton was hit. You sure stand in good with the Lord and the soldiers. The General then pinned a Bronze Star Medal on Chaplain ONeill. On December 9, 1945, Patton was returning from a pheasant hunt with his chief of staff, Major General Hobart Hap Gay. If hesays hes not, hes a liar. ww2dbase Warning: Foul language used by Patton in the speech had not been removed from this transcript, thus this text might not be suitable for everyone. Patton decried this national mood and the dismantling of the army in a letter to his sister dated October 18, 1919: The United States in general and the army in particular is in a hell of a mess and there seems to be no end to it . Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer. He had not failed them. . You have liberated or conquered more than 82,000 square miles of territory, including 1,500 cities and towns, and some 12,000 inhabited places. His Will Be Done. August 3 Patton visited a field hospital in Sicily, Italy, and slapped Charles Kuhl for what he considered cowardice as Kuhl suffered no physical wounds. He sat beside her in church each Sunday as she recited the liturgical responses from the Book of Com-mon Prayer, and he developed an amazing capacity to repeat passages at length. He hadshown his courage and faced his fears. An enemy machine gun bullethad torn through his body, entering his groin and exiting his buttocks,ripping open a wound the size of a teacup. Weve got to get not only the chaplains but every man in the Third Army to pray. My men dont dig foxholes. Remember that these enemies, whom we shall have the honor to destroy, are good soldiers and stark fighters. Speech at the Copley Plaza Hotel, Boston, Massachusetts, on June 07, 1945. On November 7, 1942, there was a storm but it stopped at 1600. December 10 Patton served as Commanding Officer, 3d Cavalry, Fort Myer, Virginia. Simply because people prayed. A passionate belief in the crucial role that tanks could play in the future and the will to make it happen seemed to sustain both men during this period. The way profanity was used Rugged Brave Unique Inspiring Determined Speech to the 3rd Army Quotes: "We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-b******s, we're going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use The conversation went something like this: General Patton: Chaplain, I want you to publish a prayer for good weather. General George S. Patton is one of the most famous American generals in history. Two weeks later, General Patton took over command of II Corps from Fre-dendall and wrote this letter to the troops now under his command: All of us have been in battle. Those who knew both men at this early stage of their military careers had the feeling that George Patton would achieve greatness. In 1922 the United States military ranked seventeenth in size among nations with a standing army. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. The final stage of World War II in the European Theatre commenced with the Western Allied invasion of Germany. 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