the forerunner of the KGB, poisoned the general.
Posted on 12/22/2008 3:26:44 AM PST by Daffynition
The newly unearthed diaries of a colourful assassin for the wartime Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the CIA, reveal that American spy chiefs wanted Patton dead because he was threatening to expose allied collusion with the Russians that cost American lives.
The death of General Patton in December 1945, is one of the enduring mysteries of the war era. Although he had suffered serious injuries in a car crash in Manheim, he was thought to be recovering and was on the verge of flying home.
But after a decade-long investigation, military historian Robert Wilcox claims that OSS head General "Wild Bill" Donovan ordered a highly decorated marksman called Douglas Bazata to silence Patton, who gloried in the nickname "Old Blood and Guts".
His book, "Target Patton", contains interviews with Mr Bazata, who died in 1999, and extracts from his diaries, detailing how he staged the car crash by getting a troop truck to plough into Patton's Cadillac and then shot the general with a low-velocity projectile, which broke his neck while his fellow passengers escaped without a scratch.
Mr Bazata also suggested that when Patton began to recover from his injuries, US officials turned a blind eye as agents of the NKVD, the forerunner of the KGB, poisoned the general.
Mr Wilcox told The Sunday Telegraph that when he spoke to Mr Bazata: "He was struggling with himself, all these killings he had done. He confessed to me that he had caused the accident, that he was ordered to do so by Wild Bill Donovan.
"Donovan told him: 'We've got a terrible situation with this great patriot, he's out of control and we must save him from himself and from ruining everything the allies have done.' I believe Douglas Bazata. He's a sterling guy."
[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
bttt
Mostly my friends have said that the truck running into the car seemed staged. They didn’t venture any conspiracy theories. They just didn’t feel everything was known about it. I think the first time I heard about this was in 1969 or 70 or 71. I was in high school.
To begin with, how did this “assassin” get this “low velocity projectile” make it through the safety-tempered glass on Patton's fully enclosed staff car? (The windows were also rolled up I believe.)
Google uncovers several Robert Wilcox, none of them this guy. First assumption: legend in his own mind.
In 1979 the movie The Brass Target is seen by Douglas Bazata, former OSS officer. Subsequent to this, he starts telling a story about how he was involved in a 'sicrit mission' to assassinate Gen. Patton. Gullible people believe him
They were at an intersection where a horse-drawn cart blocked the road and the view from a main road. Patton's driver became impatient and suddenly swerved around the cart, out into the path of the truck that hit them.
To say that this tragic accident seemed “staged” is somewhat moronic.
To correct a previous post; the movie is actually titled “The Last Days of Patton” and Patton died from an embolism while being prepared to be shipped back to the States in a full body cast.
It was known that Patton was dieing and they did not want one of America's greatest heroes to die on foreign soil, so they were preparing to ship him home to die in the USA.
(Google the history for yourself under the title I provided.)
Thank you for the additional info.
Sandy Burger involved?
I tend to agree with you are right about this book being "revisionist garbage".
Previous thread here, with some interesting discussion points:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2152105/posts
I think people have difficultly believing that Patton survived the war and then died in a simple car accident. Just like they have a hard time believing that a loser like Oswald could assassinate a President by himself. Hence conspiracy theories.
At the very least that would make Douglas Bazata as Unfit to be Commander in Chief as John F. Kerry.
Although I will wager Douglas Bazata saw more military action and received more deserving citations for bravery and real wounds in actual combat than the distinguished Junior Senator from Massachusetts.
News of your demise has been greatly exaggerated. lol
“I’m not dead yet!”
I admired Patton but how about a book investigating President Obama and his shadowy past..........
The title of the film was ‘Brass Target’. It stared that poor excuse for an actor, “the mother from UNCLE”, Robert Vaughn.
The Christopher Reeve. Complete paralysis(Patton had suffered this)
The one that actually kills you. (Severs the blood vessels, spinal cord, etc.)
And the one that just hurts. (Compression fracures that cause short term paralysis and a lot of pain)
Patton was under a lot of criticism for using former Nazi officials to maintain public services in occupied areas under his control. His biggest mistake was equating membership in the Nazi party to like being a Democrat in the States. He had been relieved for the final time and was in the process of leaving Europe when his accident occured.
There was no 'mystery' about the accident. There is ample documentation of the drivers involved, the cause of the accident, and the points in the vehicle that Patton struck with his head.
That the old soldier who personified the 'warrior ethos', would die of a simple car accident instead of enemy bullets is the real irony of Patton. One that I am sure he laughed about in his mind again and again before closing them for the last time.
Wasn't this already made into a movie?
This isn’t credible until Oliver Stone says so.
Doesn’t seem plausible to me. I remember reading a fiction book with a similar theme 20+ years ago
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