General George S. Patton Jr. was born in Lake Vineyard, CA on November 11, 1885.  Throughout his childhood Patton’s father and namesake taught him and his sister, Anne how to ride horses and learn how to shoot.  Even at this young age Patton showed a penchance for the army and it is purported that one of his favorite childhood games was “Soldier.”    By the time Patton was five he told his parents he intended to become a Great General.  Patton’s childhood also formed the basis of his remarkable and unique personality.   At an early age Patton demonstrated difficulty reading and as a consequence his parents kept him out of school for a time.  This inability would later be diagnosed as dyslexia and the corresponding relative insecurity would remain with Patton for the rest of his life.  Patton however had supportive parents and did eventually learn how to read, eventually becoming an avid military historian.  The first book Patton bought when he eventually did learn how to read was a book of decisive battles in history.From Patton Genius at War
 

     Patton had a dominant style of leadership, which was noticeable even from the beginning of his army career.  A West Point classmate once called Patton “A purebred gamecock with brains.”(1)   However Patton, as was demonstrated throughout his campaigns was more then this.  Patton had a courage and a talent for warfare that few soldiers have ever had.  By the time of the landings at Casablanca had had already had over 30 years, first as a calvary officer and later as a tanker.  By the time that the United States jumped into the Great War Patton had been a calvary officer since 1909 and had even served with distinction in the Mexican-American war with as an aide-de-camp to General Pershing.(2)
     Although Patton’s first experience of war was the Punitive expedition in 1916, it was in World War I where the General first began to distinguish himself.  The most notable example of this is the battle of the Argonne.  During this battle Patton, then a Lt. Colonel was in command of a tank brigade.  When the order was given for his combined force of American and French tanks to advance they quickly became mired in a set of trench works and began to take German artillery and machine gun fire.  Patton stepped out into the open and began to direct measures to move the tanks across the trench.  Although a number of the men working to free the tanks where hit, when asked to take cover Patton replied “To Hell, with them-they can’t hit me.”(3)  However, this was not to prove the case.  Later in that same battle Patton took charge of some infantry that were without organization and as he led them into battle was severely wounded.
     His wound was not viewed as much of a curse as the fact that fate had spared Patton where many men were killed.  Even more important then his injuries, Patton came to learn the importance and usefulness of his tanks, as well as their limitations.  When World War II began Patton had reached the rank of Major General (two stars) and was ready to fulfill what he believed to be his destiny.  Due to the success of the Tunisia campaign Patton was promoted by Eisenhower in March of 1943 to Lt. General, and shortly afterward began planning for his role in the invasion of Sicily.  A review of the invasion of Sicily follows in a following section.
 

1.  Allen, Colonel Robert S.  Lucky Forward The History of Patton’s Third U.S. Army.  New York:The Vanguard Press Inc. 1947 pg 23
2.  D’Este, Carlo  Patton A Genius for War. New York: HarperCollins 1995 pg 163
3.  Genius 257