George Smith Patton, Jr. (also George Smith Patton III) (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a distinguished though controversial United States Army officer. Commissioned in the army in 1909, Patton participated in the unsuccessful attempt to capture Pancho Villa in 1916-17. In World War I, he was the first officer assigned to the new United States Tank Corps and saw action in France. After the war he was a strong advocate of armored warfare. It was in World War II that he made his mark, commanding both corps and armies as a general in North Africa, Sicily, and the European Theater of Operations. Near the end of the Sicilian campaign, Patton jeopardized his career by slapping a soldier recuperating from "battle fatigue" at a hospital; Patton considered him a coward. The well-publicized incident caused General Eisenhower to relieve him of command. Thus, instead of playing a major part in the invasion of Normandy, he was relegated to being a decoy. However, he was later given command of the U.S. Third Army and ably led it in breaking out of the hedgerows of Normandy and across France. When a surprise major German offensive resulted in American units being surrounded in Bastogne, Patton rapidly disengaged his army from fighting in another sector and moved it over 100 miles in 48 hours to relieve the siege. Patton often got into trouble with his outspokenness and strong opinions. In addition to the slapping incident, towards the end of the war, he voiced his detestation and mistrust of the Soviets and his desire to fight them. He has also been criticized for sending an ill-fated rescue mission for his son-in-law, held in a prison camp deep behind enemy lines.

Historian Hugh Cole points out that Patton was the first American military leader to integrate the rifle companies "when manpower got tight."

Patton stated that performance was more important than race or religious affiliation: "I don`t give a damn who the man is. He can be a negro or a Jew, but if he has the stuff and does his duty, he can have anything I`ve got. By God! I love him." Patton also insisted on the assignment of some black officers as judges in military tribunals involving black defendants, and he spent more time with his African-American aide, Sergeant Meeks, than with nearly anyone else while in Europe, developing a relationship of mutual respect that transcended that of a general with his valet. Patton disliked the British, but appreciated Montgomery`s organizational abilities more than either Eisenhower or Bradley did. Patton was horrified at what he found when his Third Army liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. Local German citizens claimed that they didn`t know what was going on, though at least a few admitted to knowing of the atrocities but insisted they`d been powerless to stop it. He ordered American troops to round up the approximately 2000 local Germans and march them through the camps. He wanted them to see the atrocities firsthand.

On December 9, 1945, Patton was severely injured in a road accident. He and his chief of staff, Major General Hobart R. "Hap" Gay, were on a day trip to hunt pheasants in the country outside Mannheim, Germany. Patton was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Luxembourg along with other members of the Third Army. On March 19, 1947, his body was moved from the original grave site in the cemetery to its current prominent location at the head of his former troops.