In keeping with my habit of reading book reviews, and usually finding something that reminds me of something else, I had my own story to add to the WSJ book review of 'I Marched With Patton,' by Frank Sisson and Robert L. Wise.
Mr. Sisson is the one who marched with Patton, and Mark Yost is who reviewed the book in the November 19 print edition of the WSJ. I love WSJ book reviews, particularly because they are seldom about novels, and they are always located in the same place in the daily paper.
There will be books about WW II as long as there are people who write books, but eventually the books written by those who actually served in the war will one day dry up. There are no new books of memoirs about serving for the Union or Confederate forces in the Civil War, and soon enough, there will be no one around to write about their experiences during WW II.
But just before we reach the expiration date for those memories, along comes Mr. Sisson, an Oklahoma native who served as a Third Army artilleryman under the ultimate command of General George S. Patton, Jr.
General Patton was larger than life, and ultimately our view of him is probably cemented by the 1970 movie Patton starring George C. Scott. The movie swept the Academy Awards and Scott was awarded the Best Actor Oscar, an award he turned down. No matter. The night of the Oscars there were so many awards for the movie that the orchestra didn't need to be queued to play the theme music whenever someone from the movie trotted up to receive the award. They knew it well from having played it so many times that evening.
I will forever remember that I saw the movie 'Patton' as part of a double bill at the 14th Street Academy of Music in 1971. The other film was 1970's 'M*A*S*H.' The ultimate war double bill.
Mr. Yost in his review acknowledges the highs and lows of the war as told by Mr. Sisson. If you've ever seen the movie you should recall a famous scene of Patton directing tank and armored vehicle traffic. Frustrated with the gridlock the unyielding soldiers gave each other at a crossroad, Patton gets out and stands in the center and breaks the logjam with well-practiced hand signals.
Whether the General actually did this is not known, but Mr. Sisson did direct traffic in such a manner and caught the appreciative gaze of Patton as he was driven by. Morale boosted from a grin by Old Blood and Guts.
One of our racetrack members of The Assembled tells the story of his working as a volunteer at the Bay Ridge, Brooklyn VA Hospital. He tells the story of someone like Mr. Sisson who served in the Third Army commanded by General Patton as it made its way to Berlin after the Normandy invasion.
The recollection of the General was a warm one. When there was a lull in the action the men were allowed to line up outside the nearest whorehouse and were treated to whatever expense there was gratis by the General. "Patton always took care of his men."
I don't know if there is such a remembrance in the book. We'll have to read it to find out.
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