Gleng, Gud og Godt Nytt År !

Vyrde Lesar.

I Sarpsborg er det noen vi bør takke. Men kanskje Gleng bør avvikles ? Endres ? Gies bort ?


GENERAL PATTON SPEAKS WITH HIS GOD

This conversation of Patton with his God took place, on 23 December 1944, in front of his officers and is appropriate now as it was then as we remember and commemorate those critical December days. It was said by Patton, in the chapel, in front of the crucifix above the altar, at his headquarters at the Pescatore Foundation in Luxembourg.

'Sir, this is Patton talking. The last fourteen days have been straight hell. rain, snow, more rain, more snow - and I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on in Your headquarters. Whose side are You on, anyway?

For three years, my chaplains have been explaining this as a religious war. This, they tell me, is the Crusades all over again, except that we’re riding tanks instead of chargers. They insist that we are here to annihilate the German Army and the godless Hitler so that religious freedom may return to Europe. Up until now, I have gone along with them, for You have given us Your unreserved cooperation. Clear skies and a calm sea in Africa made the landings highly successful and helped us to eliminate Rommel. Sicily was comparatively easy and You supplied excellent weather for our armored dash across France, the greatest military victory that You have thus far allowed me. You have often given me excellent guidance in difficult command decisions and You have led German units into traps that made their elimination fairly simple.

But now, You’ve changed horses in mid-stream. You seem to have given von Rundstedt every break in the book and frankly, he’s been beating the hell out of us. My army is neither trained or equipped for winter warfare. And as You know, this weather is more suitable for Eskimos than for Southern cavalrymen.'

At this point, the General interrupted his dialogue with God, looked around, and read the weather report that had been posted: 'Cold weather, snow storms, and rain storms will continue. Visibility: 40 meters. Horizon at 100 meters.'

Then Patton resumed:
'But now, Sir, I can’t help but feel that I have offended You in some way. That suddenly You have lost all sympathy with our cause. That You are throwing in with von Rundstedt and his paper hanging-god. You know without me telling You that our situation is desperate. Sure, I can tell my staff that everything is going according to plan, but there’ no use telling You that the 101st Airborne is holding out against tremendous odds in Bastogne, and that this continual storm is making it impossible to supply them even from the air. I’ve sent Hugh Gaffey, one of my ablest generals, with his 4th Armored Division, north toward that all-important road center to relieve the encircled garrison, and he’s finding Your weather much more difficult than he is the Krauts.

I don’t like to complain unreasonably, but my soldiers from the Meuse to Echternach are suffering the tortures of the damned. Today I visited several hospitals, all full of frostbite
cases, and the wounded are dying in the fields because they cannot be brought back for medical care.

But this isn’t the worst of the situation. Lack of visibility, continued rains have completely grounded my air force. My technique of battle calls for close-in fighter-bomber support, and if my planes can’t fly, how can I use them as aerial artillery? Not only is this a deplorable situation, but, worse yet, my reconnaissance planes haven’t been in the air for fourteen days, and I haven’t the faintest idea of what’s going on behind the German lines.

Damn it, Sir, I can’t fight a shadow. Without Your cooperation from a weather standpoint I am deprived of an accurate disposition of the German armies, and how in hell can I be intelligent in my attack? All this probably sounds unreasonable to You, but I have lost all patience with Your Chaplains who insist that this is a typical Ardennes winter, and that I must have faith.
Faith and patience be damned! You have just got to make up Your mind whose side You’re on. You must come to my assistance, so that I may dispatch the entire German Army as a birthday present to Your Prince of Peace.

Sir, I have never been an unreasonable man. I’m not going to ask You for the impossible. I do not even insist upon a miracle, for all I request is four days of clear weather.

Give me four clear days so that my planes can fly, so that my fighter-bombers can bomb and strafe, so that my reconnaissance may pick out targets for my magnificent artillery. Give me four days of sunshine to dry this blasted mud, so that my yanks may roll, so that ammunition and rations may be taken to my hungry, ill-equipped infantry. I need these four days to send von Rundstedt and his godless army to their Valhalla. I am sick of this unnecessary butchery of American youth, and in exchange for four days of fighting weather, I will deliver You enough Krauts to keep Your bookkeepers months behind in their work.'

‘Patton bowed his head, waited a while, and then said 'Amen.'’


The following day was Sunday, 24 December 1944, and on this day the skies cleared. On Christmas Day, the beautiful blue skies allowed the Army Air Force to resupply the surrounded 101st Airborne, at Bastogne. Had God listened? Not only did the skies remain clear for the four days that Patton requested but they remained clear for four weeks after his prayer.


Roger Larsen