General George S. Patton, Jr. – Luxembourg American Cemetery

One of the things we have done on these travel adventures is cross the path of one of America’s greatest generals, General George S. Patton. Now not that we have planned the trip around Gen. Patton, but occasionally we have happened upon where he and Third Army made a difference in WW2. Just a side note, Third Army captured more than 81,000 sq. mi. of enemy territory in WW2!

General George Smith Patton, Jr. was born on 11 Nov 1885 in San Gabriel, California. He graduated from United States Military Academy at West Point in 1909 and was commissioned as a Second Lt. assigned to 15th Calvary. He was married a year later to Beatrice Ayer whom he dated while at West Point.

Probably one of the least known facts about General Patton is that he represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. He participated in the Pentathlon which at that time, was only open to Army officers. The multi-sport event consisted of pistol shooting at 25 meters, sword fencing, a 300 meter swim, 800 meter horse back riding and a 4-kilometer cross country run. General Patton finished 5th because of a missing bullet hole from the shooting competition. The judges claimed Patton missed the target while he claimed the missing bullet simply went through an existing hole. Could have happened, Patton shot a .38 cal pistol, which leaves a significant size hole, instead of the standard .22 cal.

Patton’s battle experience began when he was assigned to General John Pershing.  Stationed at Ft. Bliss, Patton became a public figure with his determination and aggressive attacks on Poncho Villa.

In 1917, Patton became the first member of the United States Tank Corp. In 1940, Patton convinced Congress that a more powerful striking force was needed. The result was the formation of the Armored Force with Patton assigned to the 2nd Armored Division, where on 11 Apr 1941 he was named Commanding General.

WW2 saw General Patton lead the all-American invasion force landing in North Africa, code named, “Operation Torch”. Next he led the 7th Army in Operation Husky, the liberation of Sicily. In 1944 Patton was given the 3rd Army and under Operation Cobra, stormed across Europe. 3rd Army covered some 600 miles across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia and was only slowed by lack of supplies. Most notable was the rescue of the 101st Airborne forces in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

The 16 Dec 1944  surprise attack by the German forces caught American troops off guard. Moving through the Ardennes forest, the German troops sought to divide the Allied troops and push through to recapture Antwerp. By 21 Dec, the German forces had surrounded Bastogne and the 101st Airborne. In a meeting held 19 Dec 1944, General Patton committed to General Eisenhower to have 3 full fighting divisions in Bastogne within 2 days to rescue the 101st Airborne. Eisenhower directed Patton to attack on the morning of 22 Dec with his 3 divisions. By 26 Dec, Patton’s tanks had broken through and his men were successful in liberating Bastogne.

At wars end, General Patton was assigned command of the 15th Army in occupied Germany as the military Governor of Bavaria. With his numerous comments about Russians, comparing Nazis to Democrats and Republicans, Patton was relieved of command and reassigned to 15th US Army based in Bad Nauheim. This small headquarters was tasked with compiling the history of the war in Europe.

On 9 Dec 1945, General Patton, Major General Hobart Gay and Patton’s driver, Horace Woodring were on the way to go pheasant hunting in Patton’s 1938 Cadillac when they had an accident. The accident paralyzed General Patton from the neck down but none of the others in the car sustained any injuries. 12 days later General Patton would succumb to his injuries. At 5:55pm, 21 Dec 1945, General George Smith Patton, Jr. died. Official cause of death was reported as pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure.

In letters to his wife, Patton made it clear that he wanted to be buried with his troop. He was buried on 24 Dec 1945 in Hamm, Luxemburg City, Luxemburg at the American Cemetery. His grave is between two flag poles at the head of the cemetery facing the 5,076 servicemen buried there.