On George S. Patton

George S. Patton

By Brother Mark Dabbs

Nomination of "Old Blood & Guts" to the Order of the Maltese Cross as a Saint may border on blasphemy or be perceived in a context of extreme militancy. Nevertheless, in review of the life and career of General Patton, I can find no man or woman more inspiring in word or deed than him. I've regarded him as a hero since the age of five, and only more so now. I find it difficult to nominate any dead person as a saint for much the same reason as the Old General would, "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other poor bastard die for his." In our context, magicians and martyrs are two different breeds; magicians get the job done and live to tell about it.

Fate followed him his whole life. Growing up, Patton was dyslexic and received schooling from home to assist with his learning difficulties until the age of 11. Following high school, Patton attended the Virginia Military Institute in preparation for West Point. He went onto Sweden after winning the American Military Olympics. There, he came in first in fencing against an undefeated Frenchman, the first time in American history. He placed second in swimming, and third in cross-country riding. In pistol marksmanship, witnesses claim that he put two bullets through the same hole. The judges, only required to count the number of holes counted the one and the second as a complete miss -- placing him 27th with the pistol and fifth overall; had this been considered otherwise, he would have placed first overall.

He volunteered and served as aide to General Pershing during the expedition against Pancho Villa in 1916 and again in France during World War I. Between wars, Patton read. This is an important point, for Patton had been placed in charge of the newly formed American Tank Corps. Here we find peerage among many generals - Heinz Guderian, the first general to apply the principles of blitzkrieg or "combined arms doctrine" important to the rise, and fall, of Germany. But, if Heinz was the Father of Combined Arms, British General JFC Fuller was the Grandfather. This same JFC Fuller being an important colleague of the Golden Dawn and an associate of Crowley, at least for a time.

It would be impossible to assess Patton as having any relevant awareness of Thelema, or Crowley. But when one looks at his career, his words, his actions, and the principles which he served and for which he fought, one would be hard pressed to find any other possessed of such a Will as his.

Undoubtedly, Patton expressed his mind, openly and without reservation, and had a pronounced dislike for politicians and "generals who would be politicians" (upon which there is comment in Liber AL, Chapter III). To look at his military career simply leaves one amazed at the number of times, despite superior performance, he got what can only be termed "the shaft."

Units under Patton’s direct command expelled the Axis from North Africa following the sound American defeat at Kasserine Pass, after which he was given command. His unit was placed in reserve for the invasion of Sicily. British forces under Montgomery having made only a few miles of gains in two weeks, forced Patton to appeal to the Allied Command to let him attack -- and in a few short weeks, had taken two thirds of Sicily, with continued political pressure to let other "Allied Generals" take key cities first. This happened time and time again.

"Third Army came into the scene suddenly and spectacularly as they broke out of Normandy and raced across France. In Brittany, Patton’s VIII corps drove all opposition before them. They swiftly captured the important ports of St. Brieuc, Quimper, Morlaix, and Nantes. The Germans didn’t know who was in command of the Third Army, but they did know that in seven days the Third Army had stolen 10,000 square miles from their “victorious Reich,” a faster advance than any army in history. They must have suspected that it was Patton, because the Germans always held Patton in higher respect than the Americans. After all, the Third Army’s stunning advance was far faster than the German blitzkrieg."

"Not allowed to take Argentan and end the war, Patton launched the Third Army towards Paris. The Third Army was now over 350 miles long and 120 miles wide. She straddled France while she waged war in four directions at once, attacking everywhere. In the north in Brittany, the Third Army was attacking Brest and several other fortress cities. Along the Loire, from Nantes to Orleans, it was holding 200 miles of open flank for all the northern Allied Armies. And on its 120-mile Seine front, the Third was enveloping Paris, holding a bridgehead and interdicting the river north of the capital, conducting an aggressive war of movement and carving out bridgeheads south of the city. Yet all these audacious, spectacular, and unmatched achievements were accomplished by an army only three weeks in action."

Third Army was instrumental in sealing the Falaise Pocket, but was again halted by Eisenhower who insisted that Montgomery be allowed to finish the job - and which ultimately led to numerous Axis divisions escaping to fight again later in the Ardennes Offensive in the Battle of the Bulge. Here again, Patton was kept in reserve, and was purposely deprived of ammunition and gasoline for his audacity and outspoken politically incorrect views. The Allies were effectively forced to give Patton the supplies he demanded, and in three days, Patton had shifted the entirety of Third Army some 150 miles, in the middle of winter, to relieve the American 101st Airborne at Bastogne, and ultimately kill or capture the majority of the Axis offensive operation. Every American general considered this impossible.

Patton’s wartime exploits go practically unmatched. Regarded as an eccentric, we can recall the movie in which George C. Scott portrays Patton standing on a hill overlooking a valley reminiscing about a previous life as a Roman soldier. Outspoken especially against the Soviets, he spoke out against Allied Commanders and spoke pragmatically and idealistically against many politically motivated decisions. He predicted the Ardennes Offensive before it happened and no one listened to him. He predicted how the Soviets would handle Eastern Europe, and no one listened. Patton’s Third Army was sent to clear Austria - and it turned out to be empty, and he then went on to liberate Austria and Czechoslovakia, as far and as fast as he could, ultimately to be relieved of command for overstepping orders in conjunction with inflammatory remarks made against the Soviets.

By the time the shooting stopped in Europe, Patton's army had inflicted more than 1,500,000 casualties against the German enemy. The only time Patton ever slowed down was when his 3rd Army liberated the Nazi Concentration camp at Buchenwald. When he saw what the Germans had done to the Jews and Gypsies of Europe he was so disgusted that he immediately enacted a strict policy forcing all German citizens in neighboring cities and towns to tour the camps to witness the result of their hateful nationalism. Other generals adopted Patton's policy upon liberating other concentration camps.

Later, in acting as a military governor he spoke of other violations of principle, "Today we received orders . . . in which we were told to give the Jews special accommodations. If for Jews, why not Catholics, Mormons, etc? We are also turning over to the French several hundred thousand prisoners of war to be used as slave labor in France. It is amusing to recall that we fought the Revolution in defense of the rights of man and the Civil War to abolish slavery and have now gone back on both principles."

He spoke out many times when it was unpopular to do so - against friends and foes, but mostly against politics and injustices - of favoring one group of people over another and against those whom he thought were not doing their job. His units were invariably green, and made into veteran units in a matter of short weeks and did the job of what multiple more experienced armies could not do in months.

His medals and commendations were extensive:

United States:
American Defense Service Ribbon
Distinguished Service Cross with One Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Distinguished Service Medal with Two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters
Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Navy)
One Silver Star
Three Bronze Stars
Legion of Merit
Mexican Service Badge
Purple Heart
Silver Life Saving Medal
Silver Star with One Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster
Victory medal (WWII)
Victory Medal with Four Bronze Stars (WWI)
Sons of the Revolution Medal

Great Britain:
Most Honourable Order of the Bath
Order of the British Empire
Enteur Pin of Malta

France:
Croix de Guerre of 1939 with Palm
Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star
Medal of the Legion of Honor
Medal of Verdun (WWI)
Metz Medal of Liberation (1944)
Commemorative Medal, City of Nancy
Commerative Medallion, City of Metz (1944)
Commerative Medalion Cities of Fontainebleau and Barbizon
Gourmier Pin of Morocco (French)
Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor
Liberation of Tours "Patton" Medallion
Liberation Medallion, City of d'Epernay
Liberation Medallion, City of Metz (1918)
Medallion of the City of Rheims

Belgium:
Croix de Guerre of 1940 with Palm
Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold with Palm
Civilian Shield

Czechoslovakia:
Military Cross
Order of the White Dragon

Luxembourg:
Croix de Guerre
Order of Adolphe of Nassau, Grand Croix

French Morocco:
Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold with Palm

Russia:
Guard's Badge
Order of Koutouzov, 1st Grade

Sweden:
Commemorative Medal of the V Olympiad (1912)
Armiens, Under Officers Skola
Kunge Sodermanlands Pansarregemente (Commerative Token)
Kungl. Krigs Skolan (Commemorative Medal)
Kungl. Upplands Regemente (Commorative Token)

Vatican:
Pope Pius XII Medallion

In his letter to Harbord, Patton also revealed his own plans to fight those who were destroying the morale and integrity of the Army and endangering America's future by not opposing the growing Soviet might: "It is my present thought . . . that when I finish this job, which will be around the first of the year, I shall resign, not retire, because if I retire I will still have a gag in my mouth . . . I should not start a limited counterattack, which would be contrary to my military theories, but should wait until I can start an all-out offensive…”

On December 7th, 1945, Patton was involved in a car accident, his head hit the railing and his spinal column was separated. Shortly afterwards, Patton though barely conscious was heard to say, "That's a coincidence..." A Lieutenant nearby asked, "What's a coincidence?" To which the general responded, "I was going home tomorrow."

On December 21, 1945, General Patton died of a blood clot in his brain. It was not the way Patton wanted to die. He felt that a soldier should die from “the last bullet, of the last day, in the last battle.” The city of Luxembourg served as headquarters for General George S. Patton's U.S. Third Army. General Patton is buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery.

I submit that General George S. Patton fully embodied the Spirit of the Warrior Tradition, on the battlefield and off - against the aggressors and against the oppressors, regardless of the uniform they wore. His numerous reprimands were rarely extended for not complying with orders on the battlefield, but for questioning unjust policies based upon political and ulterior motives and for speaking his mind, without reservation.

General JFC Fuller can be considered the leading Grandfather of Combined Arms Theory, important to us by way of his connection to Crowley and his accomplishments as an occultist in his own right. Fuller, like Patton, was frequently regarded as an eccentric by his peers and superiors. His theories gave rise to Guderian, who was a Soldier's Soldier himself, regardless of the side he fought on. Rommel, too, was of this same school and same breed as Patton -- ultimately Rommel was forced to commit suicide for his involvement in the assassination attempt on Hitler. Patton knew warfare and applied it better than anyone of his time. He expressed himself openly, unpopularly, but for the things he believed to be just.

His philosophy is simple, and the following quotes, in my opinion would stand equal to any held in Liber AL --

If everybody is thinking alike,
then somebody isn't thinking.

Do your damnedest in an ostentatious manner all the time.

The object of war is not to die for your country
but to make the other bastard die for his

A pint of sweat will save a gallon of blood.

I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.

We herd sheep, we drive cattle, we lead people.
Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.

A good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer

Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.

I do not fear failure. I only fear the "slowing up" of the engine inside of me which is pounding, saying, "Keep going, someone must be on top, why not you?"