George Smith Patton Jr. – 1885-1945

Patton graduated from West Point in 1909 and pioneered the use of the tank in the American army during World War I. During World War II, he helped to fashion the U.S. Army into a victorious force in North Africa, became the conqueror of Sicily, then went on to lead his Third Army in a spectacular drive across France and Germany unparalleled in U.S. military history, liberating thousands of towns and villages and capturing more than a million enemy soldiers. Patton was a legendary leader, whose difficult temperament often took him to the verge of being relieved of command—his outstanding combat record notwithstanding. His men memorialized him as “Old Blood-and-Guts.”