the ground. Then, in Nancy, France, he slept on a barn roof. I remember because they were bombing the place and he said,“ Damn, the son of a bitch found where I’ m at.”
He was a comedian, but another aspect of his character that stood out to me was Gen. Patton’ s reflective nature. He hated the radio. He’ d turn the radio off and say he didn’ t want to hear it. He always knew exactly what he had to do and didn’ t want to hear that squeaking noise all the time. Of course, when he had to get a hold of Gen. Bradley, or thought there might be a message for him, he would turn it on.
He was also always thinking, and was deeply affected by what was going on in Europe. When the Russians took over in Berlin and he got the call that he couldn’ t go into the city, I could see the drop in him. We were in the jeep and made radio contact with Gen. Bradley who relayed the orders. I looked up and could see tears coming down from his eyes. This was all he wanted and what he had fought for. He wanted to get to Berlin, but he never got there.
There were two notable articles that Gen. Patton always carried with him that people often ask about. Those were his shiny, heavily lacquered helmet and the pearl handled pistol he kept ready at his side.
He had asked us to take care of his helmet. He didn’ t care what we did with it, but his one request was that we got
it good and shiny. So our commanding officer fled over to a nearby town and picked up some lacquer. There were eight coats of lacquer in total on that helmet and if you tried to put anything on it, it was sure to slide right off.
THE VICTOR RETURNS. JUNE 9, 1945, GENERAL PATTON IS HONORED WITH A PARADE THROUGH THE STREETS OF LOS ANGELES, WITH A RECEPTION AT THE MEMORIAL COLISEUM IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF MORE THAN 100,000.
Gen. Patton loved it. Every time he got somewhere, he’ d take the helmet off in his hands, rub it off nicely, and put it neatly away in his truck. After that, it became the responsibility of his dog robber, an officer by the name of Major Stiller, who would take care of all of Gen. Patton’ s clothing and uniform articles, polish his boots, and make sure the general had everything he needed when he needed it.
In addition to the heavily lacquered helmet, Gen. Patton also asked for a pearl handled pistol. He sent me up to Belgium for some materials needed for a new dome on the jeep, and while I was there, I talked to a kid who was working there and asked,“ Hey, can you do this? I need to get a pearl handle made for this pistol.”
Well, pearl wasn’ t exactly an easy commodity to come across in the middle of war time, so he said,“ Are you crazy?”
I told him that’ s what we needed so he said he could make him one, but out of plastic.
I figured that would have to be alright, so one day I came back and gave him the gun. I had taken all the bullets out of it. He took the handles off on both sides. It was pretty thick plastic and he carved away at it. He did a hell of a job and cleaned it all out. After he cleaned it out, he had it sanded down and made sure there were no marks. Then he painted it with white paint and put some lacquer on top.
Gen. Patton had to have known it was plastic. Where the hell are you going to get pearl handles during the war? But he never said anything. He was so grateful for the pearl handles. He’ d walk around and show it off every chance he got. It was another small part of his larger than life persona.
They might have called him“ Blood and Guts” Patton, but he was one of us and it was an honor to serve at his side.
AVQ
22 AMERICAN VALOR QUARTERLY