Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 9, 1994 TAG: 9407210051
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by ROBERT I. ALOTTA
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Robert H. Patton. Crown. $25.
George S. Patton Jr., ``Old Blood and Guts'' of World War II fame, was - and is - a man of mythic proportions.
His belief in previous lives where he was a warrior, his adherence to strict obedience to orders (usually his own), his brilliant armored cavalry strokes against the Germans and his fastidious demeanor placed Patton in America's military halls of fame. But was the general all he was cracked up to be?
Over the years, the standard sources for information on Patton were Martin Blumenson's two-volume ``The Patton Papers'' and the subsequent ``Patton,'' derived from the papers and other public research. Now, along comes Robert Patton, grandson of the general, civilian by occupation and keeper of the family's legends, correspondence and truths. His book, ``The Pattons,'' emerges as the first inside look at the man, the legends and the forces that shaped both.
In his introduction, Robert Patton introduces us to the legend that shaped the family's history, the 1746 battle of Falkirk, in which Sir Robert Munro fought on the side of the king against his own grandson, Hugh Mercer, who supported the rebellious Bonnie Prince Charlie. For years, the family looked at the tale as their family shield: the older man's commitment to duty; the younger's to follow his beliefs. That battle was the opening act in the family's history.
In 1981, however, a genealogist confirmed that the two were not related. And, here in 1994, Robert Patton provides us with additional information that: ``The Pattons were an ethereal bunch, God haunted, often psychic, their eyes turned constantly heavenward, as if scanning for angels or, just as likely, for a thunderbelt headed their way.'' He concludes that `` `The Pattons' is a fiction created by a few ancestors to give their lives and legacies dramatic continuity without which they feared they would vanish. `The Pattons' is an idea. The Pattons are a family.''
``The Pattons'' is compelling reading, especially the accounts of Georgie, as the family refers to him, binging on booze, worrying about his appearance, jockeying for position, turning the other way when his sister dated Gen. John Pershing (at the time Georgie's CO), his treatment of troops, and his relationship with the various members of his family.
Georgie was out for Georgie, no matter who he had to stomp on to get there.
He was a spoiled child who could get away with murder - because he would lower his head and whisper he was sorry. He was forgiven by everyone - from his family to Dwight D. Eisenhower. His family never gave it a second thought, because that was the way Georgie was; Eisenhower did give it a second, and a third thought.
With his death, tragic because he wanted a warrior's death - not to die as the result of injuries suffered in a car crash, Georgie's life became legend. He became larger than life. He has now been returned to human status by his grandson.
Robert I. Alotta is a Harrisonburg writer.
by CNB