Patton's "dumb bastard"

[Garson O'Toole]

Jonathan wrote of Patton's speech:
> At least two seemingly reliable versions, allegedly taken down on the spot
> or from recordings, have been published in more recent years.
>
> This one was taken down in March, 1945, by a future historian:
> http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2005/3/2005_3_26.shtml
>
> It lacks the "dumb bastard" phrase. Other recollections of Patton's usage
> have "son of a bitch" instead.

The American Heritage article on the Patton speech is excellent.
Thanks for the link.

When searching using alternative expletives I did find a version using
"son of a bitch" in a 1953 work by the bestselling author Leon Uris.
Uris attributed the words to a corporal and not to Patton in his
novel:

Cite: 1953, Battle Cry by Leon Uris, GB Page 39. (Not verified on
paper; The following text is from an edition that is readable via
Amazon-Look-Inside: Page 49)

"This is the bible from now on," the corporal said, holding up The
Marine's Handbook. "The other one may save your soul, but this one is
going to save your ass. We want you alive! Let the other son of a
bitch die for his country, we want you alive!"


The Jack Sacco version of the Patton speech given in the previous
message used an odd locution: poor dumb son-of-a-bitching bastard.

Jonathan wrote:
> I'm looking for my copies of the MacDonald text and one other, but I may not
> be able to find them quickly.

Looking forward to finding out what you discover,
Garson

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