The final German offensive of World War II took place in the region of southern Belgium in the Ardennes forest on December 1944. This was known as the Battle of the Bulge where the Germans tried to push through a wedge to stop the allies from entering Germany. But worse, the enemy was also trying to stop the allies from securing the Belgium port of Antwerp that they could use to shorten the military supply route for the Army. Patton was in charge of the Third Army that was being hit the hardest by the German troops. Normally Patton was a braggart, bombastic, unforgiving and stubborn. But with the sudden plunge of Nazi tanks under the German General Karl von Rundstedt, Patton was being humbled quickly!
Patten realized he was in trouble. He went to his senior chaplain and asked for a special and sincere prayer to share with the troops during this trying hour. When the prayer was finished 250,000 copies were printed up and passed among the soldiers. On December 12 it was distributed and read:
When the weather miraculously lifted and the Germans were stopped Patton acknowledged in his normal salty way that God had heard their prayers. It was said of Patton that he saw maybe for the first time the work of Divine Providence in his life. Patton wrote one more final prayer at the end of the war that reinforced his image as a hardened but spiritual soldier:
This prayer has been considered one of the most revealing as to the character and even the change of heart in this great World War II leader! He would not live to mellow in his retired old age. Before leaving Europe after the war, he was in a terrible wreck in an Army vehicle in Germany. He lingered with a broken back for several weeks but finally passed away. He was not around to be showered with the honors he deserved as a combat General.
Patten realized he was in trouble. He went to his senior chaplain and asked for a special and sincere prayer to share with the troops during this trying hour. When the prayer was finished 250,000 copies were printed up and passed among the soldiers. On December 12 it was distributed and read:
Almighty and merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee. … Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call on Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and suppress the wickedness of our enemies.
When the weather miraculously lifted and the Germans were stopped Patton acknowledged in his normal salty way that God had heard their prayers. It was said of Patton that he saw maybe for the first time the work of Divine Providence in his life. Patton wrote one more final prayer at the end of the war that reinforced his image as a hardened but spiritual soldier:
God of our Fathers … strengthen my soul so that the weakening instinct of self-preservation, which besets us all in battle, shall not blind me to my duty to my own manhood, to the glory of my calling and to my responsibility to my fellow soldiers.
This prayer has been considered one of the most revealing as to the character and even the change of heart in this great World War II leader! He would not live to mellow in his retired old age. Before leaving Europe after the war, he was in a terrible wreck in an Army vehicle in Germany. He lingered with a broken back for several weeks but finally passed away. He was not around to be showered with the honors he deserved as a combat General.
