U.S. Army general George S. Patton, renowned for strategic
military prowess and leadership, led World War II troops into Casablanca,
Sicily, and France; relieved Allied forces at the Battle of the Bulge; and
drove deep into Nazi Germany. Patton was equally renowned for his no-holds-barred
opinions, colorful attire, profanity-laced speeches, and disregard for orders
he thought ineffective, all of which did not sit well with the Allied high
command.
The
new "must see" film, Silence Patton, suggests that the
general's premature death in a mysterious auto accident may have been
orchestrated to silence this oversized, historic
personality. Written and directed by Robert Orlando, the film uses
documentary footage, direct quotes, and interviews with historians to ask
whether Patton's forthrightness, outspoken judgments, and criticism of
battlefield leadership may have led to assassination. Robert Wilcox,
an investigative and military reporter, voiced the same theory in this 2008 book, Target
Patton: The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton.
In Silence
Patton, Orlando presents a non-lionized, realistic portrayal of a
consummate yet flawed warrior, whose personal qualities often hindered him from
obtaining the necessary orders to execute his desired military
strategies. The film opens with a re-enactment of the accident in
which an Army truck struck the car Patton was riding in, leaving him paralyzed
and near death. The image of a dying Patton looms large throughout
the film, which examines his impressive yet controversial military career and
the suspicions surrounding his end.
General
Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme allied commander during WWII, recognized Patton's
battlefield skills but considered the outspoken general a political and diplomatic
nuisance. Patton proclaimed that the U.S. made serious mistakes in
war negotiations, especially in misjudging Soviet leader Joseph
Stalin. Patton also asserted that the U.S. would pay a steep future
price for partnering with Stalin.
In Silence
Patton, Orlando — using his team of historians, battlefield graphics, and
revealing quotes – portrays Patton overwrought by the way his immediate
superiors conducted much of the war and openly bemoaning their strategic
decisions. Patton also saw through Stalin's collaborative posturing
and repeatedly warned about allying with a communist commander whom he
characterized as a duplicitous, brutal leader ambitious to capture much of
war-torn Europe for the Soviet Union.
The
film's context for Patton's concerns includes revelations that before the war,
Franklin D. Roosevelt's administration was filled with Soviet spies and
progressives who visited the Soviet Union and viewed communism as far less
ominous than Nazism and fascism, perhaps even a "new way" ideology
with a possible American future. Further, Patton thought Roosevelt
was seduced by Stalin and disturbingly trusting and attentive to the communist
leader's ideas for negotiating the war and dividing the war effort among the
Allies.
In
1943, Roosevelt called for the Third Reich's unconditional surrender, an idea
supported by Stalin but considered a tactical mistake by Patton and Britain's
prime minister, Winston Churchill. With Germany eliminated as a
buffer between Russia and Western Europe, Churchill and Patton believed that
realigning postwar Europe would be difficult and lead to significant Russian
domination. Patton proclaimed, "Stalin is not to be
trusted."
Silence
Patton recounts the 1945 Yalta
Conference, during which FDR, Churchill, and Stalin determined Europe's new
boundaries. Roosevelt naïvely assumed that conceding to Stalin would
bring his cooperation for postwar democracy and peace. In reality,
Germany would have preferred surrender to the Americans. That's because
under Russian captivity, 75% of German prisoners survived, compared to 98%
under British and American troops.
When
Roosevelt died and Truman became president, the Russians continued their
European westward push. Patton sought Eisenhower's approval to
contain the Russians by advancing to eastern European capitals, but Eisenhower
deferred to Stalin and ordered Patton to retreat from Berlin. When
the Russians began to loot and pillage German towns, stripping them of
industrial machinery, and Stalin ordered his men to kill Germans and rape
women, a horrified Patton saw his worst nightmare realized.
At
war's end, a nervous Europe welcomed its American liberators but was filled
with trepidation about advancing Russians. American troops could
have driven past Prague deep into Eastern Europe, but Eisenhower, after
consulting with the Russians, dismissed Patton's and Churchill's opinions and
ordered the general to stand down. The Russians entered
Prague. Although the Czechs requested aid from the British and
Americans, eagerly anticipated their arrival, and even appealed directly to
Patton, they were told that the Allies had stopped their advance at the Red
Army's request. Appeals for help should be directed to the Russians,
they were told. Patton complained to Churchill, "Russia is the
real problem. I can't get the Americans to see it."
Both
were frustrated that the Red Army killed people who could have been saved by
Anglo-American intervention. Thus, the Cold War began as Eastern
Europeans, subjugated previously by the Nazis, suffered more than four decades
of totalitarian rule under the Soviets.
During
his postwar position as governor of Bavaria to conduct denazification there,
Patton continued warning about Stalin and communism. He recognized
that, although Nazism was horrific, not all Germans had been true Nazis, that
many good people had joined the Nazi Party to survive, and that they could be
helpful in postwar rebuilding. He was certain that German soldiers
could have served as allies in a fight against the Red Army. Instead,
Patton watched the Russian bombing and brutality in German cities and the
ethnic cleansing of several million Germans fleeing the Red Army.
His
pragmatic views about dire conditions in postwar Europe were characterized in
the press as pro-Nazi, yet Patton made German citizens walk through the death
camps and witness the atrocities that had taken place. Patton
planned to return to Washington as a conquering hero and expose the wartime
missteps and miscalculations of American military leadership. He was
determined that the American public would know the truth and be alerted to the
lurking communist threat.
But
Patton's superiors, aspiring presidential candidate Eisenhower and General Omar
Bradley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were concerned about political
fallout, viewing Patton as a threat to their careers and
reputations. Earlier, perhaps as a precaution, the politically
ambitious Eisenhower had called on his men to present a united front to
investigators and the American public.
In
October of 1945, Patton was removed as governor of Bavaria. In
December, he was silenced for good when an oncoming army truck crushed his
car. Paralyzed with life-threatening injuries, he died 12 days
later. During his 90-minute documentary, Orlando explores this
untimely, suspicious car accident that occurred just prior to Patton's
scheduled return to the U.S. The film asks: was Patton silenced to
obfuscate the war's missteps and shield those responsible for the aftermath
with Stalin in Eastern Europe? How did a renowned and decorated
four-star general die after an alleged army truck accident absent any
investigation, court martial, or further action by the military?
The
film concludes with the haunting possibility that Eastern Europe was
unnecessarily stuck behind the Iron Curtain from 1945 to 1989. If
Patton's words had been heeded, could the Cold War have been
prevented? Instead, his warnings were ignored, his actions
constrained, and his sanity questioned while a communist dictator was free to
act. From this beginning, the Soviet Union was strengthened and
anchored to spread communism in the years ahead, when it could have been
stopped in Berlin as Patton had urged. Tragically, the liberated
lands of post–World War II Europe were turned over to a Russian tyrant and
forced to endure an even greater and longer lasting subjugation.