The Famous Patton Speech

Patton ^ | June 5th, 1944 | PATTON

[Flavius]

Wish he had a twin today.

[MikefromOhio]

My dad was a staff officer for Blood and Guts' son in the 70's...he was the same way....

[Moonman62]

Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit.

Is this another post about Iraq?

[Flavius]

Hey man hope they dont yank the thread out for words...

But donno what he said then still holds.

Sent this over to my buddy in the country.

Peace...

[Wonder Warthog]

"Sure, we want to go home. We want this war over with. The quickest way to get it over with is to go get the bastards who started it. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we can go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo."

Methinks Patton was a Jacksonian.

[oh8eleven]

As a former Marine I can swear with the best of 'em.
But the General makes me sound like an altar boy. Wow.

[JusPasenThru]

Blood and guts bump.

[dzzrtrock]

If he had a twin today he'd be courts martialed for being politically incorrect. Look what happened to Patton back then. That was in the middle of a war and before girlie-men were running the country & kowtowing to all the lunatice fringes. His modern counterpart wouldn't have a prayer and that saddens me. When & WHY did America's men decide to submit to gelding & how long are we going to tolerate that? I don't, I'm P un-f-in'C and damned proud of it.

[SkyPilot]

Interesting. When the movie came out, they used only part of the speech. I can understand that, but the writers left out the passage below in red.

All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self-respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players.

The movie was released during the Vietnam War, and I guess that passage from Patton's speech was too "pro-war" for Hollywood.

[William of Orange]

BUMP for Patton the man, the legend

[alchemist54]

My father was a tank commander in the 2nd armored division 3rd army he fought in north africa and through europe with Patton--he said that Patton could be crass and abrasive but his men would follow him into hell and kick Satans ass if he ordered it.We had a Patton but he retired Gen.Tommy Franks.

[johnb838]

Scott was a huge peacenik. Apparently it was a big character stretch for him to play Patton. But he was magnificent. It's my favorite movie and favorite performance of all time.

They had to tone down the profanity... things weren't like they are today. What they did was pushing the envelope as it was. And they certainly captured the General's habit of including some kind of profanity in almost every sentence he uttered.

[johnb838]

Man,I thought Tommy Franks looked like a hick from the sticks when he went into Afghanistan, but damn did he win me over. I'm a huge Rumsfeld backer, but if he ever left I'd sure love to see Gen'l Franks in there.

[DuncanWaring]

Apparently it was a big character stretch for him to play Patton.

That must by why they call them "actors". ;-)

[KeyWest]

Thanks for the post.

[speedy]

Whew -- put me in, coach. I feel like decking the next guy who looks at me cross-eyed. One of the all-time great speeches.

[numberonepal]

We're not going to just shoot the sons-of-bitches, we're going to rip out their living Goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks.

I just LOVE that sentence.

[Preachin']

"We don't want yellow cowards in this Army. They should be killed off like rats. If not, they will go home after this war and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men."

Political correctness has now run its course, and we can't have real men like that leading us any more.

[SkyPilot]

Yes--it was a great performance. Not many people know that General Bradley was the technical advisor on the film. That was the film was so real and authentic on many points.

There was an A&E special on the making of the film 3 years ago. Had Bradley not been there on the set, the movie may have degenerated into "M.A.S.H Goes to Germany."

[BillyCrockett]

"Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards."

And THAT'S why the Dems will not get into the Whitehouse until they learn a little something about balls.