Killing Patton

“Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge. It brings out all that is best, and it removes all that is base.” 

Patton’s speech to the US Third Army before the D-Day landings reveals Patton’s love of warfare, and his belief that it ennobles men. It is also rhetoric used to inspire these men to fight.

“Death must not be feared. Death, in time, comes to all men.” 

In his speech to Third Army in June 1944, Patton argues that as death is inevitable, one should not be afraid of dying in battle. In the context of his untimely demise barely a year and a half later, the words acquire a certain retrospective poignancy.

“In fact, what Patton desperately needs is one of his soldiers to do something audacious that will turn the tide in this desperate battle.” 

A company under Patton’s command is losing the battle for the German held fort of Driant, in France. This fort needs securing for Patton to capture the strategically important city of Metz. Fortunately, Private Robert Holmlund steps up, and manages to blast a way into the fort for the attackers.