Posted by
L Gravel on Friday, December 22, 2006 3:00:07 PM
Rich Lowry in the
National Review discusses a new book by Stanley Weintraub opens,
11 Days in December: Christmas at the Bulge, 1944:
Gen. Patton, who had been looking
forward to thrusting toward the Saar region of Germany, instead had to
relieve Bastogne. Earlier, he had badgered his chaplain to pray for
optimal conditions for an offensive. The chaplain noted “that it isn’t
a customary thing among men of my profession to pray for clear weather
to kill fellow men.” Undeterred, Patton asked, “Are you teaching me
theology or are you the chaplain of the Third Army?”
Patton distributed a printed prayer for good weather to his troops and
made his own appeal, noted above. The weather improved, and Patton
wrote in his diary, “A clear, cold Christmas, lovely weather for
killing Germans, which seems a bit [strange] seeing Whose birthday it is.”
By early January, the Germans were forced to withdraw from the
Ardennes, and the Allies were at the Rhine by March.