“My friend said that Patton would often bust infantrymen for minor infractions, like not having your tie on straight. Good for discipline, I suppose. But bad for morale.”
My dad had exactly the same complaint about General Patton when Patton commanded 7th Army. Patton even disciplined some Army doctors for not having their helmets on while operating. More than a few soldiers were pleased when Alexander Patch took over for Patton.
In the early days of Vietnam dad was assigned to the Advanced Research Project Agency in Saigon. At some point he ended up working with General Patton’s son, who was also an Army officer. He was very impressed by Patton the son, said he was one of the best officers he had worked with in his Army career.
“Colonel, there are 50,000 men on this island who would like to shoot that son of a bitch.”