Patton was one of the most erudite military men. My father’s CO and hero. Anyone who thinks his language is salty needs to acquaint himself with his speech to the 3rd Army prior to the Battle of the Bulge (I believe) at which my dad must have been present. Probably the greatest motivational speech ever recorded which captures the essence of what all Americans believed in before the Great Society destroyed our nation.
My father was also in Patton’s 3rd Army.
Well said.
It wasn’t a single speech. But rather a series of speeches he gave across England prior to them crossing. The “speech” that most people refer to was an amalgamation of the various talks, re-written by Coppola for the movie.
My dad was a MSG with the 7th Armor. He followed Patton from Normandy to VE day. The 7th ended up attached to the Brits after the confusion of the Battle of the Bulge. Their tracks ended up on the Baltic in may of 1945. He attested to the fact that they traded arty and tank shots with the Russians in what were many “accidental friendly fire” incidents. He also said that there was no hesitation when it came to returning the frequent Russian “accidents”.