Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

BOOK REVIEW: How did Patton die?
washingtontimes.com ^ | October 6, 2014 | Wes Vernon

Posted on 10/07/2014 7:55:14 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper

“If you have read ‘Killing Kennedy,’” author and TV commentator Bill O'Reilly reminds his readers, “you know that Martin Dugard and I are not conspiracy theorists. We write from a factual point of view, with no axes to grind.”

Thus, in the afterword of “Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II’s Most Audacious General” Mr. O'Reilly seeks to assure those who have just read this most recent volume in the co-authored (with Mr. Dugard) “killing” series that their findings are simply facts, not hype.

Careful shoe-leather detective work buttressed by research, access to decades-old correspondence and never-before publicized interrogations of sources from around the world have combined to give readers “Killing Patton.”

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature
KEYWORDS: patton; ww2
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-48 next last

1 posted on 10/07/2014 7:55:14 AM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper
My father always claimed that genuine military heroes like Patton and MacArthur had to be neutralized because they would prove too much of an embarrassment to political generals like George Marshall and Dwight D. Eisenhower and their sponsors.
2 posted on 10/07/2014 7:59:20 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

I hate to be the spoiler, but since O’Reilley keeps talking about it ( I just heard his interview at the Imus in the Morning drive time radio program ), this is what it is in a nutshell:

Patton was assassinated by Stalin’s minions because he was very close to convincing the powers that be to invade the USSR after the AXIS powers were defeated.

His death ended all that.


3 posted on 10/07/2014 7:59:33 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper
.


I'm familiar with the allegations.

However, Bill O'Reilly is simply trying to "sell anything" to a specific (still with money) demographic age group ...

1) Americans
2) Men
3) WWII vets
4) Retired, with NOTHING to do ...


Actually, it's shameless ...


.
4 posted on 10/07/2014 8:00:53 AM PDT by Patton@Bastogne (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

The problem with this theory is that Patton was not particularly popular in America and posed no threat to the establishment. Certainly much less so than MacArthur did during the Korean War.

IOW, I just don’t see any reason why Patton was important enough to justify killing him. He could be fired or “promoted” to a meaningless job in the Pentagon with zero political repercussions.


5 posted on 10/07/2014 8:01:25 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
.


Nobody with any intelligence ... especially Patton ...

would ever advocate invading the USSR ...

especially after (arguably) the BEST military in the world (the German Army in 1941) has just failed ...


.
6 posted on 10/07/2014 8:03:17 AM PDT by Patton@Bastogne (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Patton@Bastogne

RE: especially after (arguably) the BEST military in the world (the German Army in 1941) has just failed ...

The best military? They were defeated by the allies and Hitler was a micro-manager.


7 posted on 10/07/2014 8:04:27 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (If at first you don't succeed, put it out for beta test.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

Bush and Cheney did it.


8 posted on 10/07/2014 8:06:19 AM PDT by joethedrummer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Patton@Bastogne

Patton just wanted to run them out of Europe and not divide up the countries.


9 posted on 10/07/2014 8:10:12 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

My husband is reading this right now and thoroughly enjoying it. He didn’t know a whole lot about Patton and he’s impressed. As far as O’Reilly’s other books, eh not a big fan.


10 posted on 10/07/2014 8:11:02 AM PDT by surrey
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
.


No ... the German Army in 1941 was indeed the best military in the world.

Just go back and ask Churchill and the defeated French and Polish Prime Ministers.



You are correct that they were ultimately defeated ...

however, it was TERRIBLE stategy (USSR invasion "Barbarosa") and Hitler's micromanaging that LOST the war for Germany.



With the "brilliant" advantage of hindsight, were I the Germans, I would have waited until 1944 to start the war ...

not with a Polish-Frech invasion ...

but rather sending atomic bombs (either by bomber or V7 missiles) to a dozen English-French-Russian cities in a suprise attack ...

Manchester, Marsellis, Scappa Flow, Kiev, Crimea, Gibraltar, Crimea, etc ...

And then British Prime Minister "Chamberlain" would have given Hitler ANYTHING he wanted.



Of course, the NAZIs needed to be exterminated, and the Great Recession needed to end, too ...



.
11 posted on 10/07/2014 8:18:02 AM PDT by Patton@Bastogne (.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
The best military? They were defeated by the allies and Hitler was a micro-manager.

In other words, they took on the world and came close to winning even though their leader was incompetent.

12 posted on 10/07/2014 8:19:05 AM PDT by vbmoneyspender
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Patton@Bastogne

Clearly the Nazis were not the best military in the world. Yes, they had hardened brave troops. Yes, they had excellent military equipment. The political and military leadership was their Achilles Heel. Still to be the best requires all three.

In the end is there any argument that the US and Brittan had the best militaries?

I contend that both Germany and Japan had too small a military and limited natural resources to pull off such a grandiose scheme with so many far-flung fronts, which led the Nazis to adopt less than stellar allies and the Japs basically being terrorists.


13 posted on 10/07/2014 8:20:58 AM PDT by X-spurt (CRUZ missile - armed and ready.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
Patton was assassinated by Stalin’s minions because he was very close to convincing the powers that be to invade the USSR after the AXIS powers were defeated.

Sorry, but the theory is ludicrous. The American people would have been almost unanimously opposed to such a war, and the soldiers would have been very difficult indeed to get motivated to fight another war after just winning one and thinking they're about to go home.

Also, the notion that defeating the Red Army was a realistic idea is pretty darn silly.

To be sure, we had The Bomb, but we had very few of them and wouldn't have a large number for quite some time.

14 posted on 10/07/2014 8:22:04 AM PDT by Sherman Logan (Perception wins most of the battles. Reality wins ALL the wars.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

Read a lot on Patton. But O’Reilly still thinks Kennedy was assassinated by Oswald.


15 posted on 10/07/2014 8:22:52 AM PDT by longfellow (Bill Maher, the 21st hijacker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
And that view is nonsense. No one in his right mind would have invaded the USSR in 1945. The US CAPPED its infantry divisions at 89. The Soviets put 100 divisions into a SINGLE offensive. Already there was resistance by GIs and Marines about going to Japan---as "Band of Brothers" points out when Ambrose interviewed the guys about the "point" system.

People just have a tough time believing that "sh@t happens."

As for the comment about MacArthur and Patton vs. Ike, Eisenhower did a fantastic job of placating the Brits while making sure that everyone stayed on focus. And while MacArthur was exceptional, the greatest "general" of the Pacific in terms of casualties per # of men committed was an admiral, Nimitz, who had in his sector Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and yet still lost fewer men proportionally than did Mac.

16 posted on 10/07/2014 8:26:29 AM PDT by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Patton@Bastogne

I agree. I think we are all awaiting O’Blowhard’s next book, “Killing O’Reilly.”


17 posted on 10/07/2014 8:27:10 AM PDT by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Patton@Bastogne

Bingo. And especially when the Brits and French and what was left of the other allied “armies” were not going to fight one minute more.


18 posted on 10/07/2014 8:27:45 AM PDT by LS ('Castles made of sand, fall in the sea . . . eventually.' Hendrix)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: longfellow

He was. There is ZERO evidence that anyone other than Oswald killed him.


19 posted on 10/07/2014 8:29:11 AM PDT by SoCal Pubbie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

20 posted on 10/07/2014 8:29:47 AM PDT by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-48 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson