General George Patton
plaque in a park in Patton's California hometown near where he was born and raised
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GEORGE SMITH PATTON, JR.
1885-1945
The descendant of a distinguished pioneer family and son of San Merino's first Mayor, General Patton, a "spit and polish soldier" became one of the most brilliant, decisive and aggressive military commanders in America history. He was born and raised on the family ranch adjacent to what is now the Huntington Library. After attending primary schools in Pasadena and overcoming dyslexia, he attended Virginia Military Institute before entry into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1909. In the 1912 Olympic Games held in Stockholm Sweden, Patton, a member of the U.S. Team, excelled in the Pentathlon. In his early Army career he served as aide to General John J. Pershing during the 1916 Mexican Punitive Expedition. In World War I, he was wounded while leading a combat tank corps advance with reckless courage. In World War II, as commander of the Western Task Force and Seventh Army, he led his troops to victory in North Africa and Sicily. Then as commander of the Third Army firmly established his military genius by landing and advancing through France to ultimate victory in Germany. At war's end General Patton was assigned Command of the Fifteenth Army and charged with compiling the military history of the U.S. Forces from D-Day to Allied Victory. Dedicated, devout, profane, flamboyant and sometimes controversial, General Patton was a man for his time and a true American hero. At his own request, he is buried alongside fallen comrades in the American Military Cemetery at Hamm, Luxembourg.
Submitted by John Bradley JEB