Will Patton

RGeneral Patton used to keep his high heels highly polished so that nothing could leave a permanent mark on them.

RThey would never have made it as far as Berlin, let alone invaded the USSR. Patton would have got his **** severely kicked. The US army in Europe was not a match for the 2.5 million battle hardened men of the Red Army who had fought their way from Stalingrad to Berlin - often having to forage for food and improvise equipment and repairs. The US troops had only seen a few battles - D-Day, Falaise Pocket & the Ardennes - plus a lot of skirmishes.In terms of equipment - the best US tanks were the Pershing - produced in very small numbers and the up-gunned Sherman - and that was only good in numbers. The Soviets had T-34s and IS-2 tanks - superior weapons in every way - and they were producing them at a rate superior to US production. Aircraft - the US might have the edge here - the Mustang was a superb plane - by the IL-2 and Yak-1 and variants were built in massive numbers. Bombers the US had a definite advantage, but again the fighter advantage would have helped the USSR.Artillery - when Berlin was encircled - the Soviets had a gun every 10 metres - they had 46,000 guns for the assault. And they were Red Army troops, guns and tanks from the Baltic coast, along the Elbe down to the Adriatic in Yugoslavia.Leadership - the Soviets had some of the best Generals of the war - Zhukov, Timoshenko, Chuikov and Rossokovsky - Patton would have struggled against these men - even if he were given the resources.In the end, war is also about not losing the political battles - Patton may have been a good general - but he lost his political battles,

RPatton was very anti communist, and he used terms like that as a derogatory slur. The movie "Patton" shows that after WW2 was over, the general wanted to go to war with the Russians.

RThey got on rather well. More or less as you see in the movie: with ups and downs. What you don't see in the movie is that Patton was far more lenient with his generals than Bradley. In real life for every general Patton fired, Bradley fired at least three.

RBecause if he did we would all be speaking Russian right now. There is no possible way such an attack could have come out in America's favor. There was no desire among the American people to attack "uncle Joe" and without the support of the American people (and their buying war bonds to pay for it) you have no war. Plus the Soviet's outnumbered us more than 6 to 1 in Europe and we would have to cross 2,000 miles of Soviet territory to even have a chance. No way that one is winnable under the circumstances. Patton was a hot-headed idiot for suggesting it.

RHe suffered from dyslexia and never knew what was wrong with him...although brilliant, he had to work 3x as hard as anyone else to make grades at West Point. He was descended from a line of military heroes...his grandfather and his step grandfather were both Civil War heroes. His ancestors fought in the Indian wars and the American Revolutionary War. He participated in the 1912 Olympic in Stockholm in the modern pentathlon (shooting, swimming, fencing, cross country run, and show jumping) and he finished in 5th place.He was the first officer assigned to the US Army Tank Corps was in charge of the 1st Provisional tank brigade during WW1.He was a gifted poet, orator and lecturer. (Currently reading "Patton: A Genius For War" by Carlo D'Este...only on page 326, 500 more pages to go LOL)There is much more to this man than the legendary slap. He was amazing, arrogant, insubordinant, brash, rash, and brilliant. Haven't read Monty's book yet but it's on The Pile of Books To Be Read.

RHonestly, George Patton would have probably resigned due to the lack of support he would be getting from Washington. Washington, in their infinite wisdom always believes they can lead wars from their desks in DC, rather than listening to their generals on the ground.

RThere were two incidents beginning Aug '44. Patton & medical officer came upon an apparently unwounded man in an Aid Station. Patton slapped him and then issued a Divisional order to the effect that he did not recognoze battle fatigue as a reason for removal from the line. This man had Chronic Dysentary and Malaria so his "wonds" were not evident. The second slapping incident is where he struck a soldier and unholstered his revolver waving it about in the hospital at the man stating that he wished to shoot the man himself. Among other results, Patton had to issue a full apology in front of his troops. It cost him much in his career. An officer striking an enlisted man, not in his direct command, and not in combat showed very poor judgement. He was an emotional and sensitive man, and the thougth of showing cowardice (his own definition of it) was beyond his ability to bear when surrounded by the other grossly disfigured battle casualties. I know of no evidence that they were better or worse off for the incident(s). War is about physical violence, and the incidents were blown out of proportion in terms of their actual outcome. It is no where near the same set of circumstances as an authority figure slapping a child in the safe circumstances of the civilian world.

Rhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fortitudeorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patton#North_African_campaign

RYou mean like the Muslims that joyfully video tape themselves desecrating the dead military members and then send it to their families? Yeah you have no legs to stand on.EDITPatton would have loved to personally piss on a taliban corpse.