Patton Jr. George
GEORGE S. PATTON JR., Typed Letter Initialed, to “Jerry,” April 10, 1938, Fort Riley, Kansas. 1 p., 7.5" x 10.5". On Patton letterhead. Expected folds; residue from paper clip; very good.

Complete Transcript:

Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton, Jr.

Fort Riley, Kansas

April 10, 1938.

Dear Jerry:

Thanks for your letter I remember all about it now and repeat what I think I told you last spring that I think it was a swell trade.

Since B. has gone away for most of the summer and left me her check book I hope to be able to draw enough checks on her account to obviate the disagreeable necessity of selling some of our hard earned stock at the height of Nitas Boy Friend’s BOOM B O O M !!!!!!!!!!

Any how the fellow building the boat seems so bemused that he has not laid the Keel and I don’t have to pay him the second installment of $6000.00/// ??? till he does.

Give my love to all members of the family not DEMOGRACTS.

Affect,

G S P Jr

Historical Background:

In this chatty letter, Patton writes that his wife Beatrice will be away from Fort Riley for most of the summer. He also mentions his younger sister Anne “Nita” Patton (1887-1971), who in 1917 became engaged to widower John J. Pershing (1860-1948), the commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I. Their separation during his service in Europe ended the engagement, and she never married.

In 1930, a Maine shipyard built the Arcturus from a design by famed naval architect John Gale Alden (1884-1962) for Patton. He and his wife sailed it to Hawaii when he was stationed there and returned to California aboard it in 1937. Patton then publicly announced his plans to sell the Arcturus. Alden designed When and If, a private yacht commissioned by Patton and launched in 1939. It is likely When and If that Patton discusses in this letter.

George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945) was born in California and educated at the Virginia Military Institute and United States Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1909. An avid horseback rider, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the cavalry. In 1910, he married Beatrice Banning Ayer (1886-1953), the daughter of a wealthy Boston businessman. He competed in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden, in the modern pentathlon, where he finished fifth behind four Swedes. He then traveled to France, where he learned fencing techniques. Returning to the United States, he redesigned cavalry saber combat doctrine and designed a new sword. In 1915 and 1916, Patton participated in the Pancho Villa Expedition in Mexico as Commander John J. Pershing’s aide. In the spring of 1917, he accompanied Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, to Europe. Patton took an interest in tanks and was soon training crews to operate them. By 1918, he was in command of a tank brigade. After World War I, he served in various army posts and began to develop the methods of mechanized warfare. At the beginning of World War II, Patton worked to develop and train armored divisions in the army. In the summer of 1942, he commanded the Western Task Force in the Allied invasion of French North Africa. He commanded the Seventh U.S. Army in the successful invasion of Sicily in July 1943. After the Normandy invasion of June 1944, Patton’s Third Army sailed to France and formed on the extreme right of Allied land forces. Through speed and aggressive offensive action, the Third Army continuously pressed retreating German forces until it ran out of fuel near Metz in northeastern France at the end of August. When the German army counterattacked in the battle of the Bulge in mid-December 1944, Patton’s ability to reposition six full divisions to relieve besieged Allied forces in Bastogne was one of the most remarkable achievements of the war. As the Germans retreated, Patton’s Third Army advanced, killing, wounding, or capturing 240,000 German soldiers in seven weeks before crossing the Rhine on March 22. After the end of the war in Europe, Patton hoped for a command in the Pacific but after a visit to the United States returned to Europe for occupation duty in Bavaria. In December 1945, the car in which he was riding collided with an American army truck at low speed, but Patton hit his head on a glass partition, breaking his neck and paralyzing him. He died twelve days later at a hospital in Germany. He was buried among some of his men of the Third Army in an American cemetery in Luxembourg.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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