D Day....

[LancsLad]

A salute to your Dad also Don. They did what was needed then got on with life.

Days like today I wish they were still around.

 

[Aardvark154]

No, Sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say, "Son, your Granddaddy rode with the Great Third Army and a Son-of-a-Goddamned-Bitch named Georgie Patton!"

No one can deny that George S. Patton was a hell for leather leader. But let us not forget that the soldiers under his command not infrequently said "Our blood, his guts." The U.S. General (operational commander) in the European Theatre that the troops truly loved was Omar N. Bradley because they felt that although an extremely effective commander he bled when they bled something that cannot honestly be said regarding Patton. Apparently the Army noticed the difference as well since both Bradley and Eisenhower ranked Patton during the Second World War despite graduating six classes later at West Point.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

No one can deny that George S. Patton was a hell for leather leader. But let us not forget that the soldiers under his command not infrequently said "Our blood, his guts." The U.S. General (operational commander) in the European Theatre that the troops truly loved was Omar N. Bradley because they felt that although an extremely effective commander he bled when they bled something that cannot honestly be said regarding Patton.

Not to hijack this fine thread (thanks OTB), but "bleeding when they bleed" is an unfavourable quality in a field General. McClellan had the same quality and lost his nerve whenever the casualties piled up. If he was more aggressive and decisive like Patton, the confederate forces would have been defeated before Antietam.

Likewise, the casualties at Gettysburg spooked Meade. A counter attack after repulsing Lee would most likely have brought an end to the war a year earlier. Throughout the course of the Civil War, the only Union Generals who were consistently victorious were the "butchers", Grant and Sherman.

Apparently the Army noticed the difference as well since both Bradley and Eisenhower ranked Patton during the Second World War despite graduating six classes later at West Point.

I agree. The qualities of Bradley, Ike and Patton were precisely utilized to ensure victory.

 

[onthebottom]

Bradley was a great General.

I'm happy to see that with minor exception we were able to keep the focus where it belonged on this one threat - on men who gave so much......

OTB

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

Bradley was a great General.

I'm happy to see that with minor exception we were able to keep the focus where it belonged on this one threat - on men who gave so much......

OTB

Threat? What threat?

 

[onthebottom]

Threat? What threat?

Good catch..... you get a yellow smiley face for that one

OTB

 

[Von Wigglestaff]

Damn internet.

You could be an Italian dog
with a quick whit for all I know.

Why did the Italians buy into
Mussolini and his fascist policy?

Italy won WW I.

Had Italy lost, Imperial Germany would have been victorious on all fronts and the Serbs would have become the Kurds of Europe.

Unfortunately it was a phyrric victory, the industrial north was in ruins and the nation in anarchy. Mussolini and his black shirts took Rome by force and restored order.

Then Mussolini launched a guerilla war against the mafia resulting in most of the major Don's immigrating to North America. When the Allies took Southern Italy these feifdoms were restored to the families.

Mussolini initiated an extensive program to develop the nation's infrastructure - by the early 30's Italy would no longer endure outbreaks of Cholera, Dysentry and Malaria.

Italy began to develop Libya's oil wealth (it was an Italian protectorate) and turned the Arab country into a playground for Europe's elite. The first F1 Grand Prix races were held there. Mussolini could have ruled Italy indefinitely; in the same manner that Generalissimo Franco did in Spain.

Then he got stupid; he invaded Ethiopia?!?! And he sold Libyan oil to Nazi Germany of which Adolf Hitler happily stockpiled.

 

[onthebottom]

So we have Mussolini to thank for the Sopranos... shit.

OTB