Dear Bill:

Thank you for sharing your memory of Patton with all of us. There's nothing better than getting it first hand from a veteran who was there.

"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."

That's my favorite.

Brooke

Here a photo I've shot on december 16 2004.

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That photo brings back ALL the cold doesn't it? Who is the vet in the pic Martin?

This video was received from John McAuliffe.

Here are my friends George Chekan and Earle Hart at the US Hamm cemetery and German cemetery Sandweiler in Luxembourg. Very few visited at Sandweiler on last day of our Tour. John

Luxembourg Video

Regrettably so I don't know, there were a lot of Vet's there that day but they were real busy giving interviews to reporters speeking with our Grand-Duchess and her sons , with Helen Patton etc. . So I has been happy that I got a few photos of 'em

this is the same Vet then in the video, Mr. Alfred Grossenbacher

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Thanks for preserving the history Martin and for sharing your photos. The cold just permeates the screen. I think the temperature dropped in my office by about 60 degrees. BRRRRR! The blankets on the chairs say it all, n'est pas?

I recognize Helen Patton immediately now. It's funny how I can see people on WWII programs, etc., and I can instantly say, "Hey that's Fiske at Pearl Harbor, or that's so and so..."

Thanks for the great photos Martin

BRRRR That gives cold

Vero

I suppose the best indication of whether a commander is effective or not is what the enemy thinks of him after a few encounters. My understanding is that he was one of the few field commanders the Germans really feared. I believe that Patton's inclusion in the deceptive "First US Army Group" for Operation Quicksilver is partially what made it so convincing to the Germans and helped the Normandy landings be successful. Odd that one of his biggest contributions to the war might have been leading an army that didn't exist! That would really chap his a** to know that!

Sir, Thought this might interest you. Hello Verow.
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You were right; I was interested. I never thought about created patches for fictional units but its pretty smart. If soldiers weren't walking around England with emblems denoting their association with the units that were supposed to be in the area, the deception would certainly not be as effective. I thought that I recognized the 135th Airborne's emblem (the one of the spider,) however. I wonder if I had seen it before, something just like it, or just had some 35 year-old equivalent of senility. Pretty cool.

Sir, I have read accounts from other forums, when posting this item, that convoys of GI's

would ride around with one shouder patch on. Then switch jackets on the return leg wearing another

one. True, who knows... but what a cushy detail.

If true, I wonder how many senators’ kids ended up on that working party. <----- I normally don't use those but I thought it was appropriate - too bad there wasn't an ostrich putting his head in the sand. The lengths some go to do avoid dangerous duties. . . I'm sure there weren't many looking to get into the combat engineers to avoid danger (perhaps the ball-turret-gunner equivalent of the ground side!) "Here son, take this bayonet and poke the ground for wooden land mines. Be sure not to start until I'm over in my foxhole."