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Author: Grumpy
Sorry but this first draw in this video, looks like and excellent way to blow ones private parts away. So dear readers, try to convince me otherwise. Grumpy
HIM
Be seated.
Men, all this stuff you hear about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big-league ball players and the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. The very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Battle is the most significant competition in which a man can indulge. It brings out all that is best and it removes all that is base.
You are not all going to die. Only two percent of you right here today would be killed in a major battle. Every man is scared in his first action. If he says he’s not, he’s a goddamn liar. But the real hero is the man who fights even though he’s scared. Some men will get over their fright in a minute under fire, some take an hour, and for some it takes days. But the real man never lets his fear of death overpower his honor, his sense of duty to his country, and his innate manhood.
All through your army career you men have bitched about what you call ‘this chicken-shit drilling.’ That is all for a purpose—to ensure instant obedience to orders and to create constant alertness. This must be bred into every soldier. I don’t give a fuck for a man who is not always on his toes. But the drilling has made veterans of all you men. You are ready! A man has to be alert all the time if he expects to keep on breathing. If not, some German son-of-a-bitch will sneak up behind him and beat him to death with a sock full of shit. There are four hundred neatly marked graves in Sicily, all because one man went to sleep on the job—but they are German graves, because we caught the bastard asleep before his officer did.
An army is a team. It lives, eats, sleeps, and fights as a team. This individual hero stuff is bullshit. The bilious bastards who write that stuff for the Saturday Evening Post don’t know any more about real battle than they do about fucking. And we have the best team—we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit and the best men in the world. Why, by God, I actually pity these poor bastards we’re going up against.
All the real heroes are not storybook combat fighters. Every single man in the army plays a vital role. So don’t ever let up. Don’t ever think that your job is unimportant. What if every truck driver decided that he didn’t like the whine of the shells and turned yellow and jumped headlong into a ditch? That cowardly bastard could say to himself, ‘Hell, they won’t miss me, just one man in thousands.’ What if every man said that? Where in the hell would we be then? No, thank God, Americans don’t say that. Every man does his job. Every man is important. The ordnance men are needed to supply the guns, the quartermaster is needed to bring up the food and clothes for us because where we are going there isn’t a hell of a lot to steal. Every last damn man in the mess hall, even the one who boils the water to keep us from getting the GI shits, has a job to do.
Each man must think not only of himself, but think of his buddy fighting alongside him. We don’t want yellow cowards in the army. They should be killed off like flies. If not, they will go back home after the war, goddamn cowards, and breed more cowards. The brave men will breed more brave men. Kill off the goddamn cowards and we’ll have a nation of brave men.
One of the bravest men I saw in the African campaign was on a telegraph pole in the midst of furious fire while we were moving toward Tunis. I stopped and asked him what the hell he was doing up there. He answered, ‘Fixing the wire, sir.’ ‘Isn’t it a little unhealthy up there right now?’ I asked. ‘Yes sir, but this goddamn wire has got to be fixed.’ I asked, ‘Don’t those planes strafing the road bother you?’ And he answered, ‘No sir, but you sure as hell do.’ Now, there was a real soldier. A real man. A man who devoted all he had to his duty, no matter how great the odds, no matter how seemingly insignificant his duty appeared at the time.
And you should have seen the trucks on the road to Gabès. Those drivers were magnificent. All day and all night they crawled along those son-of-a-bitch roads, never stopping, never deviating from their course with shells bursting all around them. Many of the men drove over 40 consecutive hours. We got through on good old American guts. These were not combat men. But they were soldiers with a job to do. They were part of a team. Without them the fight would have been lost.
Sure, we all want to go home. We want to get this war over with. But you can’t win a war lying down. The quickest way to get it over with is to get the bastards who started it. We want to get the hell over there and clean the goddamn thing up, and then get at those purple-pissing Japs. The quicker they are whipped, the quicker we go home. The shortest way home is through Berlin and Tokyo. So keep moving. And when we get to Berlin, I am personally going to shoot that paper-hanging son-of-a-bitch Hitler.
When a man is lying in a shell hole, if he just stays there all day, a Boche will get him eventually. The hell with that. My men don’t dig foxholes. Foxholes only slow up an offensive. Keep moving. We’ll win this war, but we’ll win it only by fighting and showing the Germans that we’ve got more guts than they have or ever will have. We’re not just going to shoot the bastards, we’re going to rip out their living goddamned guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We’re going to murder those lousy Hun cocksuckers by the bushel-fucking-basket.
Some of you men are wondering whether or not you’ll chicken out under fire. Don’t worry about it. I can assure you that you’ll all do your duty. War is a bloody business, a killing business. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them, spill their blood or they will spill yours. Shoot them in the guts. Rip open their belly. When shells are hitting all around you and you wipe the dirt from your face and you realize that it’s not dirt, it’s the blood and gut of what was once your best friend, you’ll know what to do.
I don’t want any messages saying ‘I’m holding my position.’ We’re not holding a goddamned thing. We’re advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding anything except the enemy’s balls. We’re going to hold him by his balls and we’re going to kick him in the ass; twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all the time. Our plan of operation is to advance and keep on advancing. We’re going to go through the enemy like shit through a tinhorn.
There will be some complaints that we’re pushing our people too hard. I don’t give a damn about such complaints. I believe that an ounce of sweat will save a gallon of blood. The harder we push, the more Germans we kill. The more Germans we kill, the fewer of our men will be killed. Pushing harder means fewer casualties. I want you all to remember that. My men don’t surrender. I don’t want to hear of any soldier under my command being captured unless he is hit. Even if you are hit, you can still fight. That’s not just bullshit either. I want men like the lieutenant in Libya who, with a Luger against his chest, swept aside the gun with his hand, jerked his helmet off with the other and busted the hell out of the Boche with the helmet. Then he picked up the gun and he killed another German. All this time the man had a bullet through his lung. That’s a man for you!
Don’t forget, you don’t know I’m here at all. No word of that fact is to be mentioned in any letters. The world is not supposed to know what the hell they did with me. I’m not supposed to be commanding this army. I’m not even supposed to be in England. Let the first bastards to find out be the goddamned Germans. Some day, I want them to rise up on their piss-soaked hind legs and howl ‘Ach! It’s the goddamned Third Army and that son-of-a-bitch Patton again!’
Then there’s one thing you men will be able to say when this war is over and you get back home. Thirty years from now when you’re sitting by your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks, ‘What did you do in the great World War Two?’ You won’t have to cough and say, ‘Well, your granddaddy shoveled shit in Louisiana.’ No sir, you can look him straight in the eye and say ‘Son, your granddaddy rode with the great Third Army and a son-of-a-goddamned-bitch named George Patton!’
All right, you sons of bitches. You know how I feel. I’ll be proud to lead you wonderful guys in battle anytime, anywhere. That’s all
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Why these 5 Calibers are worth Stockpiling
Debunking the Myth of Southern Hegemony: Southerners who Stayed Loyal to the US in the Civil War
On April 1, seven states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia – will begin their celebration of Confederate Heritage Month. As a counter to this narrative of southern hegemony, I’d like to take a moment and celebrate those Southerners who remained loyal to the United States and who –
if they were currently serving U.S. military officers at the time – did not break their oaths. The war is often portrayed as a North versus South narrative. As we will see, it was far more complex, with the Southern states being far from united in their cause.
First off, we have Virginia-native General Winfield Scott, senior officer in the U.S. Army at the outset of the Civil War. A veteran of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, his strategy eventually won the war and who kept his oath to his country. When Robert E. Lee turned down Scott’s offer to command the land forces being assembled to put down the rebellion, Scott said “I have no room in my army for equivocal men.”
Nicknamed “Old Fuss and Feathers,” he was considered one of the greatest strategic minds of his day.
Next, Alabama brothers David and William Birney. David would rise to division and corps command while William commanded black troops in combat. Both rose to the rank of major general and managed to be true to their country – despite their state of origin.
One of my favorites: Solomon Meredith, born in North Carolina but who later moved to Indiana, “Long Sol” would eventually command the Iron Brigade, the only all-Western brigade in the Army of the Potomac, some of the toughest fighters in the army.
Then there’s Georgian Montgomery Meigs. West Pointer, engineer, and a compatriot of Robert E. Lee. At secession, he stayed true to the US, became the chief logistician of the US Army (Secretary of State Seward called him the key to victory), and – in an ultimate act of defiance – established the U.S. National Cemetery at Arlington literally in Lee’s back yard. Sure, it might be petty but the man also lost his son, Lieut. John Rodgers Meigs, to the war, and that does something to a man.
And of course, Virginia-born George C. Thomas, also known as the “Sledge of Nashville” and the “Rock of Chickamauga.” With nicknames like that, you have to be a badass. Which he was. Thomas was disowned by his family for staying true to the US.
One of the most brilliant strategic minds of the war, Thomas often gets little praise although U.S. Grant considered him one of his best generals.
There’s also almost-southern John Gibbon, who grew up in North Carolina in a slave-owning family. A career Army officer, he stayed true to the U.S. after three of his brothers took up arms against it. He was an artillerist and the first commander of the Iron Brigade. In August of 1862, the Iron Brigade destroyed “Stonewall” Jackson’s division almost by themselves. Later on, it would be his division that halted Pickett at Gettysburg.
Georgian John C. Fremont, noted explorer and politician, who was given command of the Department of the West. A better self-publicist than he was a good general, Fremont did one thing no one else had done – trust some guy named Ulysses S. Grant to be a good general.
Missouri-born Frederick Tracy Dent was a career Army officer who decided against turning on his country and ended up as aide-de-camp to Ulysses S. Grant. It helps when your sister is married to the commanding general, of course.
I’ve been too Army-centric. How about the good gentleman from Tennessee, David “Damn the Torpedoes” Farragut? He thumbed his nose at the rebellion and went on to become the victor of New Orleans and Mobile Bay, forcing the U.S. Navy to create the rank of full admiral for him.
Next is South Carolinian Stephen Hurlbut who became commander of the Department of the Gulf in 1864. In 1861, he was sent to South Carolina by Lincoln to try to get a feel for the sentiment of the people there. His response: “There is positively nothing to appeal to — the Sentiment of National Patriotism always feeble in Carolina, has been extinguished and overridden by the acknowledged doctrine of the paramount allegiance to the State. False political economy diligently taught for years has now become an axiom & merchants and business men believe and act upon the belief — that great growth of trade and expansion of material prosperity will & must follow the Establishment of a Southern Republic. They expect a golden era, when Charleston shall be a great commercial emporium & control for the South as New York does for the North.”
General John Buford was born in Kentucky and made a career in the regular Army. When his state became divided in the Civil War, Buford stayed true to the U.S. Commanding a cavalry division at Gettysburg, his actions to delay the Rebels were critical in preserving key terrain. He is known as being one of the fathers of modern cavalry because of his skill at reconnaissance, counter-reconnaissance, and screening.
Joseph Holt from Kentucky – anti slavery and pro Union – was the Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Army and later was the chief prosecutor in the Lincoln Assassination trial
John Ancrum (what a name) Winslow was born in North Carolina but upheld his oath and stayed with the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. On June 14, 1864 he commanded the USS Kearsarge in her victory over the notorious rebel commerce raider CSS Alabama.
Enough with the dudes, though. Elizabeth van Lew of Richmond, Virginia, spent all her available money freeing slaves. When war came she remained loyal and set up a spy ring in Richmond, helped rescue US soldiers in Libby prison, and raised the first US flag over the city after it fell.
Who’s this fellow? Oh, just the Virginian Rear Admiral Samuel Phillips Lee, U.S. Navy. Yes, THAT Lee. Robert’s cousin. Unlike his cousin, Samuel remained true to his nation and served honorably through the Civil War.
Oh, and look, it’s Major John Fitzgerald Lee. Yes, that’s right, another cousin of Bobby Lee. John F. allegedly stated, “There was no Virginia in my commission, only the United States.” He would serve as Judge Advocate for the U.S. Army in the Civil War
Unfortunately, there’s no picture of Virginian Louis Henry Marshall, Robert E Lee’s nephew, who stayed true to his oath and served as aide de camp to U.S .General John Pope during the Civil War. Bobby Lee’s sister and sister-in-law both stayed loyal to the U.S. – belying the myth that Lee could do nothing but go with Virginia when it turned against the U.S.
This is Brigadier General Philip St George Cooke, a Virginian who stayed loyal to the U.S. Constitution even though his son-in-law JEB Stuart turned his back on it. Stuart said his father-in-law would regret his choice, but once, and that was always; but then, Stuart got killed in 1864 so what did he know.
Virginian and West Pointer John Davidson was offered a position in the Confederate Army. He declined and stayed true to his oath, fighting through the duration of the war in both the east and west. After the war, served as lieutenant colonel in the 10th Cavalry “Buffalo Soldiers” – an all-black unit.
Next is Major General Alexander Dyer, a Virginian, who commanded the Springfield Arsenal during the war, boosting output so much that he was eventually made Chief of Ordnance for the U.S. Army.
West Pointer and Tennessean Alvan C. Gillem didn’t betray his country at the outset of the war, serving with George H. Thomas and rising to the rank of brigadier general.
Son of a Virginian career politician, John Newton stayed loyal to the U.S. when war began. An engineer, Newton would lead units in combat, taking over the I Corps when Major General John Reynolds was killed at Gettysburg. After the war, he became Chief of Engineers for the Army. Essayons!
Jesse Reno was born in then-Virginia, now West Virginia. He was a West Point classmate of Stonewall Jackson who elected not to betray his country and who rose to rank of major general. Known as a soldier’s soldier, he was killed in action in 1862.
Next up is Edmund J. Davis. Born in Florida, raised in Texas, he fought against secession as a judge before a mob forced him to flee the state. He then enlisted in the US Army and rose to the rank of brigadier general. After the war he became Governor of Texas, fighting for civil rights; as part of this effort, he hired African-American law enforcement officers into the Texas State Police.
George D. Ramsay was of an old Virginian family, yet disdained treason’s call and remained loyal. A regular Army man, he rocketed from major to brigadier general in just a few years, becoming Chief of Ordnance for the U.S .Army until 1864.
When the Civil War began, Virginian William R. Terrill wired D.C., “I am now and ever will be true to my oath and my country. No one has any authority to tender my resignation. I will be in Washington as soon as possible.” He was killed in action at Perryville, leading his brigade.
John C. Black from Mississippi enlisted into the U.S. Army two days after Fort Sumter. He was wounded in action at Prairie Grove, Arkansas in 1862. For this action he was later awarded the Medal of Honor. After the war, he became a Congressman for Illinois.
John B .McIntosh, from Florida, served in the U.S. Navy before the Civil War. When the Civil War began he joined the U.S. Army and was leading a brigade of cavalry by the time of Gettysburg. Here, he played a major role in stopping the Confederate cavalry action on July 3. He lost a leg in 1864.
John P. Bankhead was born in the heartbed of secession, South Carolina, of an old South Carolina and Virginian family. He remained true to his Navy and the United States, as did one brother, again demonstrating that it was *always* a choice.
Virginian William T. Ward moved to Kentucky as a young man where he represented the state in Congress in the 1850s. When war came, Ward remained loyal to the U.S .and rose to the rank of major general. He accompanied Sherman on his March to the Sea.
This is the Napoleon Bonaparte Buford, from Tennessee, half brother of John Buford. Like his half brother, he stayed loyal to the US. He commanded troops in the Western theater through the Civil War.
As we can see, it was hardly a unanimous decision for individuals to choose between their Nation and their State. In fact, one quarter of the entire U.S. Army during the Civil War was made up of Unionist southerners and those from the border states. Forty percent of West Pointers from Virginia stuck to their oaths. Unionists dominated the mountainous areas of the South, sending soldiers north, helping escapees from Confederate prisons, and raiding Confederate supply lines. One entire section of Virginia remained loyal – we know this today as the state of West Virginia.
So why then do we have images of the South as one, united entity, fighting against a purely Northern, largely immigrant invader? Narrative, mainly. And not a narrative that was mere happenstance either.
George H. Thomas noted in 1868, “[T]he greatest efforts made by the defeated insurgents since the close of the war have been to promulgate the idea that the cause of liberty, justice, humanity, equality, and all the calendar of the virtues of freedom, suffered violence and wrong when the effort for southern independence failed. This is, of course, intended as a species of political cant, whereby the crime of treason might be covered with a counterfeit varnish of patriotism, so that the precipitators of the rebellion might go down in history hand in hand with the defenders of the government, thus wiping out with their own hands their own stains; a species of self-forgiveness amazing in its effrontery, when it is considered that life and property—justly forfeited by the laws of the country, of war, and of nations, through the magnanimity of the government and people—was not exacted from them. “
The Confederate States of America cost our nation dearly, in blood and treasure. Those that promulgated its rise, carried its spirit into the 20th century as Jim Crow legislation, the Klan, and the Myth of the Lost Cause. That, therefore, is the true heritage of the Confederacy – and not one that should be honored. What we can do, however, is take note of those individuals who did not bow to the mob and stayed true to their oaths. We can only hope that we would have such constancy for the Republic.
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About the Author: Angry Staff Officer is an Army engineer officer who is adrift in a sea of doctrine and staff operations and uses writing as a means to retain his sanity. He also collaborates on a podcast with Adin Dobkin entitled War Stories, which examines key moments in the history of warfare. Support this blog’s Patreon here.
Cover Photo: George H. Thomas, Library of Congress. Thanks to the Library of Congress and the National Archives for the photos for this post.