wrote, “ Patton wrote his place in history at the Battle of the Bulge.”10 On December 16, 1944, taking advantage of weather that kept Allied aircraft on the ground, the 5Germans launched a counteroffensive through the hilly, wooded Ardennes country. They advanced 50 miles into Belgium and Luxembourg. Their aim was to divide the American and British forces and retake the vital seaport of Antwerp. The German’s created a “bulge” in the Allied lines, however, in late December, but there advance was halted near the Meuse by Patton’s forces. After being stopped and frustrated in Lorraine and in the Starr by the Germans, the Ardennes became an easy target. At this point, Patton knew he had an opportunity to display his war fighting abilities. Thus proving the old continual joke within the American Army that every time Ike (Army Commander in Chief Eisenhower) got into trouble, Patton and the Third Army would pull him out. The Germans withdrew to their own lines in January. Heavy losses, including about 220,000 casualties, contributed to their final collapse in the following spring.In March 1945 the Third Army crossed the Rhine river into Germany and moved toward Austria. After the war, Patton served as military governor of Bavaria. Because of his lenient policy toward the former enemy, he was relieved from his post. Patton was named head of the 15th Army in late 1945, shortly before he was fatally injured in a traffic accident in France.Because he was extremely hard on his troops and on the enemy, Patton gained the reputation of not being a compassionate man. The truth contradicts his reputation. George Patton was an extremely religious man. Throughout his Army career, the Bible 6became his most fundamental guide. God became a source of solace, and the basis of practically every thing he did. Patton’s nephew wrote “The Bible was his companion and the church his refuge.”11 I...
