Man Under a Star

Shortly before his death Brigadier General Hugh ("Iron Pants") Johnson made a prophecy about his friend Major General George Smith ("Old Blood and Guts") Patton Jr.: "Critics say he is reckless and impetuous. That's what was said at West Point. He says he is going to command an army. My bet is on Georgie Patton." Georgie Patton became a lieutenant general a fortnight ago. Last week he took command of the central sector in Tunisia, where U.S. troops got an ignominious licking a month ago. Patton celebrated his appointment by advancing.

Bag Holder. Patton replaced scrappy, 59-year-old Major General Lloyd R. Fredendall, an infantryman and tactician who may have been the unluckiest general in the North African campaign. FredendalE had to hold the whole central Tunisian front with an inadequate army of poorly equipped French and unseasoned U.S. troops. He said at the time, "I am holding the bag," and he was.

Fredendall hung on to the southern end of his front largely through the bluff put up by a handful of U.S. paratroops and. French infantry. The Allies concentrated most of their strength north around Pichon in the Ousseltia Valley region, where they expected the Nazis to attack. Allied reconnaissance never spotted the Axis power gathering to the south near Faid Pass. Three hours before Rommel's tanks rumbled out of Faid Pass, General Dwight Eisenhower himself was calmly making a tour of the front only a few miles away. Fredendall was unable to switch his forces in time. The Nazis rolled through.

Rommel's punishing lunge and successful withdrawal through Kasserine Gap is now history. A footnote to that history was a frank report from Allied headquarters last week, citing the failure of U.S. troops to cover their retreat with land mines. When Rommel withdrew he probably saved himself by his skillful use of mines. The U.S. command made other mistakes, not the least of which was splitting their armored units into small groups with which the experienced Germans dealt quickly and savagely.

The Lions Tremble. Fredendall's successor is a tank man. George Patton's favorite motto (expurgated) is "Grab 'em by the nose and kick 'em in the tail." In 1916 he was a dashing, cocky young cavalryman and aide to "Black Jack" Pershing; in Mexico. When he went to France in World War I he organized the first U.S. tank brigade, returned to study that new wrinkle in modern warfare, and to help develop it when the U.S. Army at last got around to it in a serious way.

Some of George Patton's antics caused stiff eyebrows to twitch at headquarters. His profanity became legendary. With his flair for the spectacular, he designed, had tailored and posed in a special tank uniform : green with white buttons and black stripes. His own helmet was golden with two silver stars. (The Army declined to accept it as regulation.) With his flair for vivid phraseology, he wrote some war poetry (unpublished). With a tidy, inherited fortune he indulged his love for horses, polo, sailing boats and games.

He believed too loudly in his own military preachments, was passed over several times for promotion. But in 1941, as commander of the 2nd Armored Division, he shone in southern maneuvers. The following spring he snorted off to California to organize the Desert Training Center. In the 120DEG heat he whipped a desert fighting force into shape. Most of the men he trained followed him overseas. He was assigned to seize Casablanca, which he did after four rip-roaring days and many blunders (not necessarily his own). At the end he strode into the headquarters of Admiral Michelier with a pair of pearl-handled .45-caliber pistols strapped to his legs and a tommy gun under one arm. So impressed was the Sultan of Morocco that he presented Patton with the special order of Ouissam Alaouite, with the citation: "Les Lions dans leurs tanieres tremblent en le voyant approcher" (The lions in their dens tremble at his approach). According to unofficial reports, he also impressed Franco's commanders in Spanish Morocco, doing a valuable service by placating them and removing any immediate danger of attack on the Allies' rear.

"Soldiers," says Patton, "fight primarily for two reasons: hero worship for a commanding officer and the desire for glory." He used to inspire his men with four-letter oratory and assurances that he, Georgie Patton, would know what to do when he got those German so-&-sos in his gunsights.

General Patton now has the Germans at gun point. Over him, as over many a man who boasted and failed, now hangs the awful star of battle. When the battle is done, he will not need to boast. The record will be there, for the living among his men to read.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.