Andy Rooney says George Patton had little to do with winning war in Europe!

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/larry.king.live/ | 12/1/02 | sonofatpatcher2

[sonofatpatcher2]

Was just channel surfing and caught Andy Rooney on a late nigth repeat of Larry King Weekend as he said that George Patton has little to do with the liberation of France and defeat of Nazi Germany!

He then went into a ramble about Omar Bradley being the commander of Third Army...

[uncbob]

Watched the History Channel`s tibutue to Reagan last nite. What a leader, what a MAN. How can the same country that elected a Reagan, two times put Bubba in the White House?

If it's any consolation
Clinton got 43% in 92 and less than 50% in 96 with a booming economy- peace- a fawning media-and a nothing like Dole as his opponent

Still in 96 he shouldn't have gotten more than the 43% who vote democrat NO MATTER who they run

[uncbob]

If the Germans had not been involved in the East against the Russkies D Day would not have been possible

If any significant German airpower was available the beachs would have been a slaughter.

In fact if Germany wasn't fighting in the East I doubt that an invasion of Europe would have even been attempted and we would have been dealing with Germany similar to the Cold War against Russia

All that said there is no way Germany and Russia wern't going to go at each other

Main question is if the USA and for that matter Britain could have stood back and watched

[ricpic]

Rooney is a whine and quiche liberal.....[who] despise and disparage the things General Patton epitomized....toughness, duty, masculinity.....

---

Macho: an unforgiveable sin to the liberal mind.

[Lessismore]

So they were captured? Defeated? what?

There is an interesting account on line at The Hammelburg Raid

"Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., "Old Blood and Guts," was soundly reprimanded by both Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Gen. Omar N. Bradley for the abortive attack on Hammelburg and the loss of the Task Force. He told correspondents that he did not know until nine days after the Task Force reached Hammelburg that his son-in-law was among the prisoners. He produced his private diaries and said he attempted to liberate the prison camp because they were afraid that the American prisoners might be murdered by the retreating Germans. Gen. Patton later admitted: "I can say this, that throughout the campaign in Europe I know of no error I made except that of failing to send a combat command to take Hammelburg. Otherwise, my operations were to me, strictly satisfactory."

[Skooz]

Andy Rooney has always hated Patton with a maniacal passion. I first saw him rant against Patton about 20 years ago. Something about getting his troops killed. Wonder if he feels the same way about Washington, Lee, Grant, Wellington, Marlborough, Kutuzov, Alexander, Julius Caesar, and Sargon II. They all got their toops killed, too.

[battlegearboat]

Andy Rooney's office smells bad!

[sneakypete]

It was as important for Patton do be where he was as it was for the USSR to do what it was doing. Both forces were important.

Precisely! If US and British troops hadn't applied pressure in the west,the Germans would have had all THOSE troops freed up to join in on the attack in the east. Germany would have defeated Russia.

[sneakypete]

as he was going on about what a lousy General Patton was and how his men hated hem, they intertwined interviews of men who served under Patton who all said how much they respected him and would have followed him anywhere.

One of the men from the small village my family came from served with Patton all the way through WW-2. He enlisted as a private,and got a battlefield commission in Africa. He hated Patton was a passion beyond all belief,and even in the 1970's his color would acutally change when he heard Pattons name. He had nothing but contempt for him.

[sneakypete]

I don't quite remember what book I got the account out of.

I didn't see it in a book,but read about it on a internet newspaper. Most likely one from Europe.

[logic101.net]

Andy used to be ammusing years ago. I think the '94 elections unhinged him.

MARK A SITY
http://www.logic101.net/

[Tijeras_Slim]

http://www.abebooks.com/

Enter title, I got 27 hits. $2.00 and up.

Regards, Slim

[chris1]

People like Andy Rooney amaze me. They always are the first to criticize but never ever give a solution or alternative. The fact of the matter is that Patton made the war in the west unwinnable for the Germans. The war in the East, on the other hand was a loser nearly from the outset due to poor planning and Hitler's dominence over his generals.

[MindBender26]

Rooney is an old drunk. Has been since I last saw him, and I started at network almost 20 years ago! He was then, probably is now.

[MissAmericanPie]

Andy is cut from the same cloth as the rest of the worthless dead weight that Patton had to drag to victory. You remember the dead weight that gave us the cold war for all those years instead of dealing with it at the time?

[Gumlegs]

Was that the same Eisenhower who said, paraphrasing here, If I have a battalion to take a hill defended by a battalion, I can do it, but it will cost a lot of lives. If I have a regiment, I'll take the hill without firing a shot?

Maybe this is where Ike got the idea.

[Shooter 2.5]

A friend told me about a German soldier who was wounded on the Russian front so they gave him a light posting in France just in time for D-Day. He was captured and stayed in France after the war. Later he enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in time to be at the defeat of the French to the Vietnamese. He was still there when he enlisted with our forces during our period in Viet Nam.

He was supposed to be in a company formation one day and he only had on a couple of ribbons. His company commander complained that he knew he had more medals than that and to go back and put on all of his decorations. The story goes that he was in formation with everything he had including an Iron Cross.

[u-89]

I think that interview with Rooney is a year or two old because it sounds familiar. As I remember it he said Patton always gets credited with liberating France with few casualties. He said, rightly that the real fighting was in Normandy in June and July and Patton was in England at the time. 1st Army did all the fighting and opened up the German lines in Cobra. Patton and the newly arrived 3rd Army drove through the gap. The Germans were falling back and then routed. 3rd Army drove through a lot of open space. That is a quick overview but basically correct. 3rd Armies casualties were light compared to 1st but then again they missed 2 months in the hedgerows. Granted Rooney has a peeve for Patton's style and personality but the bit about France is not incorrect. Don't remember what was said about the rest of the war so I won't comment.

[reg45]

Andy Rooney says George Patton had little to do with winning war in Europe!

Only because Montgomery, Eisenhower and Bradley held him back!

[Tokhtamish]

Precisely! If US and British troops hadn't applied pressure in the west,the Germans would have had all THOSE troops freed up to join in on the attack in the east. Germany would have defeated Russia.

Not at all true. Stalingrad and the destruction of the German 6th Army, as well as the Hungarian, Rumanian, and Italian forces was complete by February 1943. In all, the destruction of a quarter of the Axis strength on the Eastern Front. The greatest disaster in German military history. Germany attempted to retrieve the situation by launching a massive summer offensive on the Kursk salient in July, 1943. It suffered and inflicted massive casualties but they needed an Izyum or Kiev level giant pocket to regain the initiative and nothing even close. The USSR, right after the Germans were spent, threw three entire reserve fronts (army groups) into counterattack and chased the Germans back across the Ukraine. This time for good. Germany was finished after Kursk, long before Anglo American soldiers returned to the mainland of Europe.

[Publius6961]

I'm surprised he made it through the alcohol fog to find the word processor!