General Patton’s Prayer

This is my father's card which I keep in my wallet.

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.

That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing.

Amazing.
Thank you for sending, and for the context.

Had a landlord many years ago who would tell one and all that he was proud to be one of "Patton's Bastards."

My dad was there, but he was 3rd Armored, not 3rd Army.

Wow, that is really really cool.
And thanks for the rest of the story.

Appreciate you sharing this.

Merry Christmas to all !

My Dad was there. Forward Observer for the Tank Corps.

Wow, just wow. What a terrific message and an even more terrific heirloom.

Merry Christmas to you

I would say my grandfather was there, but because of the nature of his unit as soon as the US Army figured out what was going on, he and his unit was pulled back across the Meuse. So he was present on Dec. 16th. But by Christmas was deep in France.

Good post. But you keep it in your wallet? If it were me, I would frame it and hang it at home.

I guess there's a risk either way but a great piece of history.

I watched Patton two days ago. I think it might be my most rewatchable movie. I love every second of it.

At Christmas my mind tends to wander to soldiers and especially those in WWII so, while sick this whole week, I watched a number of my favorite WWII films.

Yours is a really cool memento and I'm sure your father was a great man.