WWII Reflections from Gener al Patton’ s Personal Driver ront Seat
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WWII Reflections from Gener al Patton’ s Personal Driver ront Seat
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From Fr ancis“ Jeep” Sanza
U. S. Army Photo
Sgt. Francis“ Jeep” Sanza held a unique role in the United States Army during WWII. He was a driver for General George S. Patton as a member of the Army’ s 34 th and 7 th Ordinance Medium Automotive Maintenance Company and was regarded as one of the Army’ s best mechanics.
As the primary driver for Gen. Patton during some of the most pivotal battles in the European Theater of WWII, including the Siege of Bastogne, Sgt. Sanza gained rare perspective into the personality of Gen. Patton.
Now 93 years old, Sgt. Sanza sat down with AVQ to share some of his fondest memories of the famous WWII general.
I liked driving a jeep, so my role as driver for Gen. George Patton was natural for me, especially following the opportunity I had to demonstrate an early military jeep prototype made in Waynesboro, North Carolina.
We tested the jeep’ s durability by driving it through water, which it was capable of doing, although you had to watch out for the sand that got in the bearings because they would wear out over time. Gen. Patton was there for that demonstration, in addition to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and even Dwight D. Eisenhower, who of course would go one to become supreme Allied commander during the
GENERAL GEORGE S. PATTON STRIKES HIS ICONIC POSE IN A REVIEW OF THIRD ARMY TROOPS IN APRIL, 1944. THE SCENE CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF THE SUPREMELY CONFIDENT GENERAL.
war, and later the 34th president of our nation.
Even before I joined the war effort, I had a knack for operating and caring for engines, which I had done while working at camp with the Civilian Conservation Corps. I learned a lot about engines in those days, including how to overhaul them. I could take an engine out of a jeep in 40 minutes—
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