My girlfriend recently showed me a quote by General George Patton, saying “Give me an army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies, and I'll win the war.”
I checked his bio, and saw nothing indicating any particular ties to Texas A&M, so I'm wondering what his motivation was for making this statement. Anyone know the history behind this quote?
2007-11-13 13:58:45 · 8 answers · asked by Brian Sparta 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Military
"Give me an army of West Point graduates, I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies and I'll win a war!"
Mike Province, founder and president of The Patton Society calls this an urban legend and in the Texas A&M Battalion (2 October 2006) is quoted as saying "I've gotten e-mails and questions regarding that quote for several years... People will use it with Texas Aggies, The Citadel, Virginia Military Institute and even Clemson. All of these schools want to be linked to Patton... Anything is possible... I honestly don't believe he said it, because I've heard too many people say that he said it about their school. But if anyone out there can find proof that he said it, I'd love to hear about it and get it out there."
2007-11-13 14:28:37 · answer #1 · answered by Kojak 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
He probably didn't. Patton was a graduate of West Point and may have some confidence in the capabilities of his fellow graduates but, as you said, had no connection with Texas A and M. It is thought to be an urban legend in support of the battalions from Texas. It appears the same quote has been attributed to Clemson, VMI, and the Citadel. Mike Province, the President of the Patton Society has asked for proof that the General said anything close to this quote.
2007-11-13 17:23:18 · answer #2 · answered by eaglecpo 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Patton was one of a kind. The Germans feared him and thought America were idiots for not having Patton in charge of the battle for Europe. Like him or hate him, he got results. Nobody but Patton could have saved the guys at Bastogne, even though the 101st never needed to be rescued.(touchy subject)
He had habit of telling people facts they didn't want to hear. Slapping a soldier didn't help his cause any. I never heard this quote but if he did say it he might be making reference to the fact that younger soldiers followed orders with out questioning him. Since Texas A&M has a type of military history this may be the reason.
2007-11-13 14:21:23 · answer #3 · answered by 2nd AD/ 4th ID 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Sorry never heard that quote from Patton, but this other yahoo needs to go study more history, Gen Patton never made that quote because he was an Army General.
2007-11-13 14:13:43 · answer #4 · answered by SFC_Ollie 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
Aggie Quotes
2016-11-11 05:36:03 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Patton was in the Army nimrod.
2007-11-13 14:11:12 · answer #6 · answered by aofive 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Didn't he say "My men can eat boot leather but my tanks gotta have gas" saying that his tanks needed fuel before his men were given rations???
2007-11-13 21:21:03 · answer #7 · answered by munro5112 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
i think he had a sawbuck on em against oklahoma st.!!!
2007-11-13 14:05:23 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋