On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we look at the life of an exceptional man of war, General George S. Patton. Patton was born to a privileged family. He knew politicians and seemingly indestructible Civil War generals as a child. His family was a military family, and he was destined to be the same. After academic struggles, he entered West Point. Here, he flunked out in math but excelled in tactics and military drills. Once he graduated, he wiggled his way to the Mexican border where he worked for General Pershing and fought the Mexican outlaw, Pancho Villa. He made a name for himself here and earned promotions before his time in WWI.

In the war, he saw a new type of combat, ones using battle tanks. He quickly became the nation’s (if not the world’s) expert at tank warfare and mechanized combat. After legendary exploits in WWI France, he found himself in World War II, where he was indispensable. He helped capture North Africa, Sicily, and most of Germany on his push for blood and guts. Then, there was the time he slapped two soldiers and almost got fired. Oh, and the time he killed a soldier with a shovel, but nobody seemed to care. Did I mention he was an Olympic athlete, redesigned the sabre used by the US Army, and believed in reincarnation? Love him or hate him, George Patton was a quintessential war soldier.

 

Visit Our Sources:

https://www.biography.com/military-figure/george-patton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_S._Patton

https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/george-smith-patton

https://www.loc.gov/collections/george-s-patton-diaries/about-this-collection/

https://www.americanheritage.com/ikes-son-remembers-george-s-patton-jr

https://vault.fbi.gov/george-s.-patton

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-price-of-being-a-patton-wrestling-with-the-legacy-of-americas-most-famous-general

https://www.military.com/army/lt-gen-george-s-patton-jr.html

https://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-george-patton