I am not going to spell out his esteemed military career here. There is simply not enough room. I simply give you this:
That is all.Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle....Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American....There are four hundred neatly marked graves somewhere in Sicily. All because one man went to sleep on the job. But they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep before they did....My men don't dig foxholes. I don't want them to. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. And don't give the enemy time to dig one either. We'll win this war, but we'll win it only by fighting and by showing the Germans that we've got more guts than they have; or ever will have. We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks....I believe in the old and sound rule that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder WE push, the more Germans we will kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed.
2 comments:
Those quotes, as inspirational as they should be, are disheartening in the present political climate. We simply aren't allowed to say such things anymore. Imagine if a general spoke that way today, with enthusiasm and aggression; he would be court martialed in the blink of an eye. Back then we felt like we'd never lose a war, now I wonder whether we'll win one when we have to. We need more Pattons!
Even at the time he caught a lot of flack for what he said and did.
We was a true war time General. A very rare breed of man.
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