Posted on Dec 21, 2025
General George S. Patton dies | December 21, 1945 | HISTORY
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General George S. Patton, commander of the U.S. 3rd Army, dies from injuries suffered not in battle but in a freak car accident. He was 60 years old.
Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909. He represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics-as the first American participant in the pentathlon. He did not win a medal. He went on to serve in the Tank Corps during World War I, an experience that made Patton a dedicated proponent of tank warfare.
During World War II, as commander of the U.S. 7th Army, he captured Palermo, Sicily, in 1943 by just such means. Patton’s audacity became evident in 1944, when, during the Battle of the Bulge, he employed an unorthodox strategy that involved a 90-degree pivoting move of his 3rd Army forces, enabling him to speedily relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium.
Descended from a long line of military men, Patton graduated from the West Point Military Academy in 1909. He represented the United States in the 1912 Olympics-as the first American participant in the pentathlon. He did not win a medal. He went on to serve in the Tank Corps during World War I, an experience that made Patton a dedicated proponent of tank warfare.
During World War II, as commander of the U.S. 7th Army, he captured Palermo, Sicily, in 1943 by just such means. Patton’s audacity became evident in 1944, when, during the Battle of the Bulge, he employed an unorthodox strategy that involved a 90-degree pivoting move of his 3rd Army forces, enabling him to speedily relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium.
General George S. Patton dies | December 21, 1945 | HISTORY
Posted from history.comPosted in these groups: 
WWII World War Two
HeidelbergUSARCENT (formerly Third Army)7th Army JMTC
WWI
WWII World War Two HeidelbergUSARCENT (formerly Third Army)7th Army JMTC WWI
Posted 2 mo ago
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Interesting, I never knew how he died. My father was with the Army's 88th infantry. They landed in Italy and fought all the way up into Germany.
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I served in the Army CID from 1978-94 and in Heidelberg from 1981-82. I had been in and out of the 130th Station Hospital, the hospital in which the general passed. Also, those familiar with the autobahn which ran between Heidelberg and Mannheim, a kaserne was located at a midpoint between the two German cities. It was known as Autobahn Kaserne and in 1982, changed to Stem Kaserne, named in honor of General David Stem, who was killed himself in an aircraft accident. The location of this kaserne was the approximate location of General Patton’s auto accident. A truck was departing the kaserne when it had an accident with the general’s staff car.
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