FIGHTING MAN

at Westpoint cradle of America's military leaders the dedication of a monument to a great fighting man General George Patton to the world he had become a legend of valor and victory and battles old blood and guts with his ivory-handled six guns and gold helmet a symbol of the American warrior West Point had been George Patton's goal from childhood he entered in nineteen for determined to win military glory only an average student in the classrooms passin excelled on the drill field this was true preparation for war the young cadet was impatient to be tried by fire his first taste of war came in 1915 when he pursued paso vias Raiders across the Mexican border by the time of the first world war Patton was a captain he formed America's first tank corps and let his tanks and doughboys to victory after victory against the Germans after the war back to horses although the day of the tank had arrived patents please for the tank army were disregarded but with a few old machines he went ahead and worked out the doctrines of modern tank warfare it was the Germans who first put Patton's ideas into practice Adolf Hitler created huge Panzer armies by comparison America's tank force was puny at the start of World War two newly formed the United States tank corps went on maneuvers under the command of George Patton then on to its first great adventure the invasion of North Africa with Patton in command of a task force h-hour at Casablanca under the guns of the defenders the first boatloads of gi's reached the beach nessam tried to go with him but his ship was hit by shellfire next day the naval battle ended and pattern reached the shore there he supervised the unloading of tanks and desperately needed heavy equipment oblivious to personal danger he led his troops to the conquest of North Africa then he took on a far bigger job the battle for two Misha until the desert rolled the tanks to meet the Germans although Patton's troops were green and his opponent was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel he had no doubt that he could beat the Nazi desert fox at his own game of tank warfare in a series of tank battles Rommel was smashed and Patton one his nickname all blood and guts his next assignment the invasion of Sicily the convoy reached Sicily in July 1943 veterans of Tanisha started for Shore under the eyes of their hard-boiled commander their battle order from Patton rip the enemy up the belly and shootin in that guts while the fight for the beaches was still in progress he went ashore to make certain they followed instructions fanning out from the beachheads the gi's advanced against phonetic German resistance with them went all blood-and-guts scorning danger shouting encouragement the troops responded with a pattern style blitzkrieg crushing the enemy and capturing thousands the American Seventh Army swept across Sicily but at the peak of success an event that nearly wrecked Athens career it happened at an American field hospital during the last days of the Sicilian campaign the famous slapping incident general Eisenhower's reaction was immediate and severe I can patent were old friends but Eisenhower didn't let that stand in the way of an investigation Pattin he learned had struck a psychoneurotic soldier mistaking mental illness for cowardice Pike was enraged he gave Patton a choice apologize to your troops or resign your command the troops were assembled division by division and old blood and guts apologized then ready for his greatest adventure off to London in England patent rangy eyes for the biggest Allied effort of the war the invasion of France they learn to fight Patton's way hand-to-hand with cold steel and without mercy Nathan told his men the shortest way home was through France they would travel that road together when the first allied invaders reached France on d-day General George Patton was not among them his brand-new Third Army had been held back for the breakthrough punch and when it struck it was invincible like a steel flood happens tanks rolled across Normandy cheered by the liberated French the shattered Germans were left behind towns and cities welcome to liberators as they sped through France the drive turned into a jubilant parade a hurried kiss then on toward the German border with all blood and guts close behind he and his men reached the fortress city of Metz and there the offensive stopped while artillery shelled the city supplies of gasoline and ammunition were brought up from the rear Patton's tanks said Farah distanced his supply trucks Metz was taken 12 days later the culmination of a drive that for speed and daring was almost without equal Kevin and his men were heroes but at Metz the Germans had taken advantage of the pause to reorganize their defenses they struck back savagely in the Ardennes Forest in December 1944 the Nazi goal was the destruction of two American armies and the isolation of the British if they succeeded the war might go on indefinitely at Bastogne the American one hundred and first Airborne Division was trapped although completely surrounded it refused to surrender to the rescue when Patton and his tanks undertaking a task that was thought to be impossible the roads were choked with snow the enemy was everywhere typing their way through some of the worst terrain in Europe the tankers broke through the Nazis and reached Bastogne with them sharing the privations and dangers came there fighting commander once again the impossible had been done by old blood and guts Patton then a new offensive in the spring of 1945 this time Patton led his tanks and troops into the heart of Germany one after another Germany's cities fell the stage was set for Germany's unconditional surrender VE Day Victory in Europe dancing in the streets and peace a few weeks later Paton came home to his wife and family with them he could drop his swashbuckling public personality and return to the role he likes best devoted husband and father but very soon that general had to leave his family reporting to president truman he was congratulated on his remarkable record of victories in Europe then a series of great parades but even more than the cheers of crowds Kevin loved the clash of battle he had asked for a fighting assignment against Japan meanwhile he made morale building public appearances this wall is only half over and it could damn well be lost and it is up to your people both by your sweat and by your pocketbook to see that that incomparable team the army the Navy and the Air Force is supported until the Japanese is completely destroyed as is the German thank you but instead of Japan Patton went back to Germany and the Army of Occupation for him and his men the real war was over one day the general started off on a hunting trip 12 months had passed since his history-making dash to the relief of Bastogne it was an ill-fated journey after so many encounters with death it had come to Patton in an automobile accident they buried him in Germany among his fallen comrades in ground he and his men had conquered but his fame lives on an inspiration to soldiers a legend of blood and guts