Patton

I am sitting here watching the movie "Patton" and it triggered memories of a lot of stories my dad told me about his experiences during World War 2. He trained with the 12th Cavalry at Fort Bliss, Texas. In 1942 he was sent to New York for training as a radio operator. After that he was assigned to Patton's 3rd Army and sent overseas. He was a scout for the 16th Mechanized Cavalry Group the last part of the war. They were the first troops to enter Germany. Dad was wounded twice, once by machine gun fire in the legs and once by being blown out of a halftrack when it hit a mine. His job was to scout advanced positions and radio back reports.

Dad saw Patton several times and was not impressed. He thought Patton was an egotistical prima donna who sent a lot of good men out as cannon fodder. One day after the battle of Trier his group was roused early by a colonel and forced to line up. The colonel said "Something has happened last night and the general wants a quick resolution to it. Who stole the general's cognac?" It seems that someone entered the supply tent and absconded with a case of Patton's finest stolen cognac. The men were dirty and very tired after the battle. When they heard this pronouncement they fell to the ground rolling with hysterical laughter. Sergeants were running around yelling and kicking at the laughing soldiers. By the way, dad said that the cognac was excellent!

Dad made it to the level of technical sergeant. The military offered him a chance to attend officer candidate school but he detested the military discipline and did not want to make a career of it. The only reminders of this time that I have are a German bone handled dress dagger, an old Belgium pistol, his dog tags, and a plaque the military sent him. While he was proud he got through this experience it left a lot of mental scars. Patton may have been a great strategist but according to dad he only cared about his own career. "Old Blood and Guts" had little regard for individual soldiers.