I worked with a gentleman who landed in Italy with Patton's army. Bill was a corporal when they landed and was a Captain by the time they got to Rome...quite a lot of attrition for that to happen. Bill told me that he had the opportunity to become Patton's aide, but turned it down...told me he didn't want to be polishing boots ...then said that the guy who took the job left Italy as a colonel... Bill said that maybe he should have considered the offer more carefully.

Robert

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Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

One aspect of considering a born-rich
person such as Patton compared to
citizen soldiers such as Bill Mauldin's
Willie and Joe is Patton probably never
polished his own boots, pressed his
own uniforms or slept on the ground
during a rain storm.

Nor did he go from say 175 pounds
to 135 pounds while in literally constant
combat, sometimes suffering from
wounds but still kept on the line.

He liked the idea of "glory" in war where
the GIs never saw any glory in war,
just misery and death while keeping
a glimmer of hope that things might
get better.

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Ubi Est Mea

That one rings a bell for me. When I was in the AZ National Guard as an officer in the 158th Infantry "Bushmasters" Regiment, I was selected as a candidate for aide-de-camp to the State commander - a general officer, of course.

When I was commanded to interview with him, I told him flatly I didn't want the job. When he asked me why, I told him I'd rather be instructing troops on how to shoot straight and maneuver effectively rather than occupying a desk in his HQ. I figured I'd be much more useful to the Guard in that role.

Miracle of miracles, he selected someone else. I guess he didn't want a reluctant dragon...

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

It’s an interesting historical thing:

In many armies through the 19th century in Europe where officer positions were reserved for the aristocracy, officers who were promoted up from the ranks, who got battlefield commissions, were uncommon, but it did happen. They had been through what you describe, what the men at the front went through.

And yet, they generally had a harder time being accepted by the men than some privileged aristocrat because they weren’t seen as “proper officers”. They violated the natural order of things.

Leadership is a strange thing. Frederick the Great was beloved by his men because he gave them victories, but also because he lived simply with the army. But the point was that as the king he didn’t have to. Soldiers have never wanted to be led by somebody like themselves.

Now Patton was a strange bird because he appears to have actually bought into his own myth, including the battles he claimed to have fought in previous incarnations during the Roman Empire and the Middle Ages. So he definitely had some screws loose.

But a lot of his persona, the fancy guns, the talk of glory, did serve a practical purpose of leadership. Combined with his undeniable abilities on the battlefield, this did indeed inspire the guys bearing the hardships at the sharp end.

When I lived in the big burb outside of Albany, my next door neighbor (now 15 years deceased) got his feet wet doing Normandy.

Went on to the very end of the war, came out a E6 and spoke very highly of Patton. The funny thing my neighbor did not have much love for officers to begin with, so to me that speaks volumes.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

As with Patton, I too was in many
wars through a dozen centuries.

So, in my honor:

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Every battle I bled,
or runs with the flu.

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Ubi Est Mea