“In a letter on June 19, Patton’s aide wrote, “He is a great hate builder, and believe me, when the time comes, the Axis boys are going to be very sorry to meet him.”
“Some GIs were already sorry. Upon discovering a 45th Division soldier asleep in a foxhole during a landing exercise, Patton jabbed the man in the ribs with his own rifle and bellowed, “You son of a bitch. You get out of there.” During another exercise near Oran, Patton yelled, “Captain, get these men off the beach and onto their objective.”
“But, sir,” the officer replied, “I am a chaplain.”
“I don’t give a damn if you are Jesus Christ himself,” Patton snapped, get these men the hell off the beach.” ─ The Day of Battle, The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, Copyright © 2007 by Rick Atkinson, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, Page 44.
General Patton Presents an Award
