26. General Patton’s Nepotism Got Hundreds Killed, Captured, or Wounded
A firestorm erupted and surrounded General George S. Patton during the Sicilian Campaign, when he accused a PTSD-suffering soldier in a hospital of cowardice. He then slapped him around, and threatened to shoot him. Patton repeated the disgraceful performance a few days later with another GI in another hospital.
When the scandal broke, it nearly got Patton cashiered. He survived, and went on to perform superbly a year later in France and Germany. However, towards the war’s end, Patton had an even worse, but lesser-known scandal, in which he got dozens of GIs killed. It happened in late March of 1945, when Patton ordered Task Force Baum, comprised of 314 men, 16 tanks, and dozens of other vehicles, to penetrate 50 miles behind German lines. Their task: liberate a POW camp that housed Patton’s son-in-law. Few returned from the mission to save Patton’s relative.
