Prologue
General George S. Patton Jr. will forever be part of military history. Yet, his accomplishments transcends the normal and proceeds into a greatness that few ever reach in a life time. The Bible describes a life span as a "wisp" in History. When the life leaves the body, then only the memories of the accomplishments and failures linger in the memories of man. When these memories are written down, they become history. It is from that history we look at those who figure looms bigger than others and judge them. General Patton's legacy, when it is all known, if it ever can be, will most likely put him in the company of military giants in World History. Regardless of how he fairs there he is certainly a man worth studying. Military soldiers and historians study his exploits on the battlefield and see how his tactics and strategies went on to change the future of such things. He, like most men, saw his present situation and saw his duty as a soldier to change the circumstances to a victory. Since he knew the past, he was able to foresee how the future might play out and knowing his enemies past. As his enemies on and off the battlefield proceeded in a predictable manner, he was able to conclude where they going and how they would react. He then, like a great chess player on the battlefield field, moved with quickness and saw his plans win battles. He was ahead of his peers and enemies in knowing the battlefield and often was stopped by others on his own side because they could not see nor react as quickly as they could or should have. Now with the passage of time, we see just how right he was and see that had he been allowed to be unrestrained and fight the war as he saw it, there would certainly have been even greater victories and less lives lost than there were. When his final battlefield command was over, he saw that if things continued as they had, unabated, that the futures of his soldiers and those of generations to come would be faced with having to fight again but with tougher opposition and with "wonder weapons" that might leave mankind to its final destruction. Based on that, he managed to write several predictions that were not only insightful but very close to what would eventually happen. He lived only 60 years and 30 days which would certainly qualify in biblical terms as a "wisp." However, when you look at when he lived, what he did and how he effected the outcome, you come to understand that the short lifetime was lived to the fullest and the memory of what he did will last until the end of history.
If you have gotten this far into this web site, thank you for reading as much as you have. I will be updating this section as time allows. I am writing a book about the General and his Third Army Headquarters so that has slowed the process in this portion of the web site. Check back on this page from time to time. In the meantime, visit the rest of the web sight. There is quite a bit here all ready. If you went directly from the web to this page, you may be asking yourself "What is a living historian?" That is us. We play the part and tell the story so that the history is not now lost. By doing it in the first person, we are able to bring it alive to those who want to know it and to those who did not know of it.
Denny Hair