Text 16156, 116 rader
Skriven 2008-05-26 09:33:03 av Roy Witt (1:397/22)
  Kommentar till text 16111 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:203/2)
Ärende: Patton
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26 May 08 11:42, Björn Felten wrote to Michiel van der Vlist:


 MvdV>> Was it? So I have been led around the bush.  Again... :-(

 BF>    If it's any comfort to you, you're not alone to have been misled.
 BF> There are numerous sites on the internet claiming that the words are
 BF> from Patton's 1944 speech. But transliterations of the speech are
 BF> also readily available on the net, and there's nothing similar to
 BF> those famous words to be found there.

Patton was famous for such utterances in his speeches. Here's one from
1944 that even Ward probably hasn't seen or read about.

In the fall of 1944, Patton requested that the 761st Tank Division be
assigned under his command. It had just recently been formed and was about
to enter combat. These were 'black' soldiers and Patton reviewed the
battalion and addressed the men:

   "Men, you're the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American
Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing
but the best in my Army. I don't care what color you are as long as you go
up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches. Everyone has their eyes on
you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all your race is
looking forward to you. Don't let them down and damn you, don't let me
down!" - George S. Patton, The 761st "Black Panthers"

 BF>    So, once again, like Ward says, a pure Hollywood fabrication.

Patton was no Hollywood fabrication. As the history of WW1 and WW2 will
bear witness.

Patton's "Speech to the Third Army" on June 5th, 1944, the eve of the
Allied invasion of France, code-named "Overlord". Scott's rendition of the
speech in the movie Patton, was highly sanitized so as not to offend too
many fainthearted Americans. Luckily, the soldiers of the American Army
who fought World War II were not so fainthearted.

When asked why he used so much profanity in his addresses to his soldiers:

"When I want my men to remember something important, to really make it
stick, I give it to them double dirty. It may not sound nice to some bunch
of little old ladies at an afternoon tea party, but it helps my soldiers
to remember. You can't run an army without profanity; and it has to be
eloquent profanity. An army without profanity couldn't fight it's way out
of a piss-soaked paper bag."

June 5th, 1944 on platform before thousands of his men:

"Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out
of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love
to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of
battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here
to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your
own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third,
you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When
you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble
player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball
players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner.
Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans
play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who
lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose
a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American."

The General paused and looked over the crowd. "You are not all going to
die," he said slowly. "Only two percent of you right here today would die
in a major battle. Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all
men. Yes, every man is scared in his first battle. If he says he's not,
he's a liar. Some men are cowards but they fight the same as the brave men
or they get the hell slammed out of them watching men fight who are just
as scared as they are. The real hero is the man who fights even though he
is scared. Some men get over their fright in a minute under fire. For
some, it takes an hour. For some, it takes days. But a real man will never
let his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his
country, and his innate manhood. Battle is the most magnificent
competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is
best and it removes all that is base. Americans pride themselves on being
He Men and they ARE He Men. Remember that the enemy is just as frightened
as you are, and probably more so. They are not supermen."

"All through your Army careers, you men have bitched about what you call
"chicken shit drilling". That, like everything else in this Army, has a
definite purpose. That purpose is alertness. Alertness must be bred into
every soldier. I don't give a fuck for a man who's not always on his toes.
You men are veterans or you wouldn't be here. You are ready for what's to
come. A man must be alert at all times if he expects to stay alive. If
you're not alert, sometime, a German son-of-an-asshole-bitch is going to
sneak up behind you and beat you to death with a sockful of shit!" The men
roared in agreement.

Patton's grim expression did not change. "There are four hundred neatly
marked graves somewhere in Sicily", he roared into the microphone, "All
because one man went to sleep on the job". He paused and the men grew
silent. "But they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep
before they did". The General clutched the microphone tightly, his jaw
out-thrust, and he continued, "An Army is a team. It lives, sleeps, eats,
and fights as a team. This individual heroic stuff is pure horse shit. The
bilious bastards who write that kind of stuff for the Saturday Evening
Post don't know any more about real fighting under fire than they know
about fucking!"

At this point, he was on a roll and his troops ate it up.

If you want to read the rest of the speech, you can find it here:

http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html

Don't let the Svede idiot lead you astray, Patton was not fiction made up
by Hollywood.

                R\%/itt



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