By Christopher Miskimon
The German Ardennes Offensive threatened the Allied lines in December 1944. While it was a crisis, the situation also presented an opportunity. An effective American counterattack could destroy Germany’s last reserves in the West, if only the weather would cooperate. General George S. Patton’s Third Army was placed to deal that killer blow if it could pivot and change its direction of advance straight into the German flank, again assuming decent weather. By modern standards Patton was a bit odd. Mercurial, profane, a believer in reincarnation, he was also quick to action, decisive and a devout Christian. In a moment when much depended on something he could not control, Patton asked his chaplain, James H. O’Neill, to create a prayer for good weather. O’Neill dutifully complied, and 250,000 cards bearing the prayer and Patton’s signature went out to his troops.
The author tells this story through the experiences of paratroopers, tank crews and the odd general or staff officer. This latest book continues in the traditions of his previous works with gritty realism, descriptive prose and a focus on the human experience in the world’s largest conflict. The author excels at taking the disparate stories of different soldiers serving during the Battle of the Bulge and weaving them together into a coherent, readable and page-turning narrative.
Patton’s Prayer: A True Story of Courage, Faith and Victory in World War II (Alex Kershaw, Dutton Press, New York NY, 2024, 348 pp., maps, photographs, notes, bibliography, index, $32.00, hardcover)
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