Address to the Third Army
Delivered to troops of the U.S. Third Army in England in late May/early June 1944 prior to the Allied Invasion of Normandy (D-Day).
Full Transcript
Men, all this stuff you’ve heard about America not wanting to fight, wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung. Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle.
When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I don’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughs. That’s why Americans have never lost and will never lose a war. For the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans.
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 battle. If he says he’s not, he’s a liar. But the real hero is the man who fights even though he’s scared.
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, I shovelled muck 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 Quartermaster named George Patton!’
Defining Key Excerpts
"Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time."
"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 say, 'Well, I shovelled muck in Louisiana.'"
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