Did General George S. Patton describe himself as "an utter, craven coward"?

[Brenda Lester]

I googled the quote and found this,



Patton replied, "Sir, I am not a brave man....The truth is, I am an 
utter craven coward. I have never been within the sound of gunshot or in
 sight of battle in my whole life that I wasn't so scared that I had 
sweat in the palms of my hands."

http://www.dailyintheword.org/content/lord-my-helper

best,
brenda



________________________________
 From: ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
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Subject: Re: Did General George S. Patton describe himself as "an utter, craven coward"?
 

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HathiTrust has "A non-existent man, an autobiography" (1962) by Thomas
Vernor Smith.
The book is in full view. Unfortunately, there are no matches for
"Patton" or "coward".
Garson

> Stephen Goranson wrote:
>> Maybe Thomas Vernor Smith 1890-1964?

Garson O'Toole
> Thanks for your response, Stephen. I think that you are right that "T.
> V. Smith" probably refers to Thomas Vernor Smith. Amazon has a listing
> for the following autobiography:
>
> A non-existent man, an autobiography by Thomas Vernor Smith.
>
> The description mentions service in Sicily:
> [Begin excerpt]
> He served as private ("no class") in World War I; he held the rank of
> colonel in World War II and was a military governor with the Allied
> Control Commission in Sicily and Italy, …
> [End excerpt]
>
> The book was published with editions in 1961 and 1962 apparently.
> Based on the timing perhaps this book contains the quotation. The
> Google Books database includes some instances of the book but they
> seem to be in "No Preview" mode.
>
> Garson
>
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