General Patton’s Principles was a gift from my grandfather almost six years ago. He’s a got room in his house in North Texas full of old, dusty books. Somehow, he found out how big of a Patton fan I am and General Patton’s Principles made it into my hands.
This book has stayed by my side since.
I’ve got a shelf full of Patton books. Some good, some bad, and plenty that are almost exact copies of each other. The thing that sets this book apart from the rest is its author. Porter B. Williamson served under Patton for several years leading up to the United States entering WWII.
Ready for anything
This book covers Patton’s thought-process as he prepared for war. Although the chapters are structured in a leadership book fashion, it is full of real-life stories and experiences giving an amazing glimpse at Patton during an interesting part of his life.
As Patton trained his men in the California desert, he was prepared for almost any kind of invasion upon the United States. Drills were prepared at the concept of the Japanese invading from Mexico and the Germans coming from the Atlantic. The book even covers incidences where drills were considered the real thing until further intelligence proved to be false alarms.
Even though the Untied States had not entered the war, Patton was ready for anything.
The highest calling
Patton’s view on being a soldier was radical, “The highest profession in the world is that of a soldier because we are willing to give our lives that others can have better lives. That’s the same thing Christ did! Think about that!” Although logically true, very few people are willing to say such things.
Patton never feared controversial topics or opinions. “Christ had twelve Disciples. Not a damn one of them was a soldier! They all deserted! All twelve of them should have been shot! Every damn one of them! We shoot deserters in this army.” From what I’ve read of Patton, I’m sure he had this conversation with God to ask why he didn’t shoot them.
Patton worked hard to strip his men of fear, especially fear of failure, “A commander does not dare have any fear. If a commander shows any fear, the men will see it. The men will be scared. When there is fear of failure, there will be failure.”
To kill the fear in his men, Patton worked hard to instill pride in them. Patton personally paid for several hundred wash basins to be delivered to the California desert so that his troops had showers and toilets that flushed. The troops were to look their best at all times and be in proper uniform. Even soldiers running into each other in the city were to give each other a firm salute. He believed that faith and confidence built pride, and pride destroyed fear.
“Any officer who is afraid of failure will never win! Any man who is afraid to die will never really live.”
Timeless
What I’ve covered barely scrapes the surface. I have retold these stories and principles countless times throughout these past six years. Although everything in this book is more than six decades old, they still inspire today. Patton was brash, uncouth, and was able to get the job done in ways people never dreamed.
Stories of Patton schooling preachers on the Bible, forcing his soldiers to take cold showers in order to engrain the concept of continually moving in combat, and surprising the troops by showing up in random areas of a command post have given a more in-depth look at how the General shaped his men. In each chapter, Williamson will list one of Patton’s principles followed by more lessons from the General and stories Williamson’s service.
Williamson often goes into how the General’s words affected him. The thought of Patton’s troops hating him are put to rest as Williamson tells stories of how his outlook on life was changed by Patton. Even dealing with cancer, the author relied on words from the General to determine how he’d deal with the disease.
This book is invaluable and should be on the shelf of any leader or WWII buff. As I have shared these stories, the book has also made its way into the hands of friends. I’ve found myself tracking down people to get it back and have since told anyone curious to hit-up Amazon for their own copy. They have.