American Patriot/Hero of the Week

Yesterday I was listen to the G. Gordon Liddy show while I worked, and I heard a speech performed by a comedian who does impersonations. More on the speech in tomorrow's post. He was pretending to give a speech as General George S. Patton III, and that reminded me of someone I wanted to honor in my American Patriot/Hero of the Week posts for awhile now. So without further adieu, this weeks selection is General Patton.

Many have forgotten Patton's exploits. Besides being a formidable General during World War II, Patton fought Pancho Villa, was an Olympic Competitor, and was the Army's youngest ever Master of the Sword. He was so good with the sword, that he redesigned the Army sword of the day and literally wrote the book on the proper use thereof. He also revised American tactics and strategy concerning the use of tanks and armored cars.

General Patton was a rather outspoken man who would have had none of the namby-pamby political correctness that is ruining this once fine nation. Prior to the battle of Sicily, in a speech Patton said, "When we land against the enemy, don't forget to hit him and hit him hard. When we meet the enemy we will kill him. We will show him no mercy. He has killed thousands of your comrades and he must die. If your company officers in leading your men against the enemy find him shooting at you and when you get within two hundred yards of him he wishes to surrender – oh no! That bastard will die! You will kill him. Stick him between the third and fourth ribs. You will tell your men that. They must have the killer instinct. Tell them to stick him. Stick him in the liver. We will get the name of killers and killers are immortal. When word reaches him that he is being faced by a killer battalion he will fight less. We must build up that name as killers."

Patton was a hard General. His troops called him "Old Blood and Guts," with the usual refrain being, "Our blood but his guts." Despite this, many soldiers wanted to serve under this great general because they felt that their chances of survival were better under him. No greater honor can be bestowed upon a leader of soldiers than that. Characteristically, and to the detriment of his career, Patton slapped a man recovering from "battle fatigue" because he thought the man a coward. He held his men to the highest standards, but this was nothing compared to the standard to which he held his officers or himself. It is because of this high personal standard, that even the soldier Patton had assaulted, Charles H. Kuhl, thought Patton was a great general.

On December 21, 1945, a car accident claimed a prize that hundreds of thousands of Germans could not, Patton's life. True to his role as a great leader of men, Patton was buried in Hamm Luxomburg with his soldiers as he wished to be buried with his men.

Patton was the kind of man that this country could use more of. He would have lead the fight against our enemies and neither dithered, nor given in to pressures to coddle terrorist garbage. Men like Patton make me feel that possibly I was born in the wrong era. He is a perfect example of why the men who fought WWII are called "the greatest American Generation." Perhaps we should learn the lessons taught by our forefathers, such as Patton, and take back our country and return to the values America was founded on.

GOD BLESS AMERICA AND DEATH TO HER ENEMIES!