Battle of the Bulge
General Patton’s Prayer
December 17, 2006 Scott Manning
Many know the story of General Patton's prayer for better weather in order to more efficiently kill the Germans in the winter of 1944. Few know of his Christmas Greeting that was issued along with the prayer, which he describes in War as I Knew It.
Contrary to popular belief, the prayer was not ordered to be written during the Battle of the Bulge. It was on the 14th of December that General Patton had the famous exchange with Chaplain O'Neill to write a prayer for good weather and to give a copy to each member of the Third Army. The Chaplain mentioned that it's not a customary practice to pray for clear weather in order to kill fellow men.
Patton's response was direct, "Chaplain, are you teaching me theology or are you the Chaplain of the Third Army? I want a prayer."
After working out the logistics, each member of the Third Army (approximately 250,000 at the time) was issued a small card on the 22nd of December, 1944. By this time, the Battle of the Bulge was underway.
On one side of the card was the famous prayer:
Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations.
When Patton originally ordered the cards made, some of the General's men convinced him to include a Christmas greeting for the troops. It was at this time Patton took a seat at his desk beneath the contemporary ceiling fans and penned something special. On the reverse side, the card had a personal message from the General:
To each officer and soldier in the Third United States Army, I wish a Merry Christmas. I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. May God's blessing rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day.G. S. Patton, Jr.
Lieutenant General
Commanding, Third United States Army
The next day, the weather cleared and remained perfect for about six days while the Third Army pushed North to relieve the 101st Airborne at Bastogne.
Upon reviewing the weather, Patton said of the Chaplain, "God damn! Look at the weather. That O'Neill sure did some potent praying. Get him up here. I want to pin a medal on him."
The next day, the Chaplain made it to Patton's office. He shook the Chaplain's hand and said, "Chaplain, you're the most popular man in this Headquarters. You sure stand in good with the Lord and the soldiers." Chaplain O'Neill then received a Bronze Star Medal.
On Christmas Day, Patton wrote in his journal that the day "dawned clear and cold; lovely weather for killing Germans, although the thought seemed somewhat at variance with the spirit of the day." Patton went on to write how they managed to provide every soldier with turkey. Those in the front had turkey sandwiches while everyone else had hot turkey.

In 1980 I traveled to Europe with Dad - we visited many of his battle fields...Bastogne being one. Very awesome experience.

Merry Christmas.

My Father's card. 777th Battalion, 6th Armored, Third Army.

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Love this. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful slice of history and family blended together. TY!

Thanks for sharing

HK Ag

Yes, very cool. Love the story. Appreciate you sharing that.

My FIL was there and said it was the coldest he had ever been.
Thank you for posting.

On my walk through of Park Cemetery, I pass the grave of Pvt. Leo Robinson of the 705th Tank Destroyer Bn. KIA 12-24-1944. Robinsons unit was heavily engaged during the Bulge.
His family shovels the snow off his grave every year at Christmas.
We are free because of men like Pvt. Robinson.

“NUTS!”  — In a single word, GEN Anthony McAuliffe told the Nazis demanding his surrender at Bastogne on 22 December 1944 to kick rocks, pound sand, & go to hell. 


“The fortune of war is changing.” The letter to McAuliffe from the Nazi commander went on: “This time the USA forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units… There is only one possibility to save the encircled USA troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over, a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note…”

McAuliffe didn’t need 2 hours — he needed 2 seconds. “NUTS!” The reply was drafted and promptly delivered to the two German officers in waiting.

“NUTS? Is that reply negative or affirmative?” asked the Germans. 
“The reply is decidedly not affirmative" replied the American officer.
“What does this mean?”
“Tell them to take a flying s**t!"

That the Germans understood, and they stormed off. 

McAuliffe’s men fought like hell and the annihilation the Germans promised never came. Just days later, GEN Patton’s Third Army would break through the German lines to relieve the encircled Paratroopers at Bastogne. 

LEGENDS NEVER DIE. 

#bastogne #warhistory #wwiihistory #101stairborne #aatw #airbornealltheway #battleofthebulge #gritty #bandofbrothers #flagsforward #legendsneverdie

My dad was there. Frostbite and shrapnel.

A while back I was watching a History Channel program (I think it was WWII in HD), and a veteran's account of how he got trench foot so badly he couldn't walk made the screen go blurry.