Gen. Patton Called on His Entire Army to Pray 80 Years Ago Just Before a Crucial Battle Unfolded
Perhaps World War II Gen. George S. Patton’s finest hour as an American war leader came during the pivotal Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, when his army relieved the surrounded 101st Airborne Division in Belgium.
In the days leading up to this make-or-break moment in the Allied push to defeat Nazi Germany, Patton called on his entire Third Army to pray.
Before the German Army’s Ardennes offensive, Patton had his staff working on a contingency plan because he sensed their foe might counterattack in the Bastogne region.
Under thick cloud cover with snow falling, Hitler’s 200,000 troops advanced through Belgium’s Ardennes Forest starting on Dec. 16.
The massive German thrust enveloped thousands of Allied soldiers — including 11,000 from the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne.
The Allies could not respond with their air power because of bad weather.
The German commander near Bastogne ordered the surrounded 101st to immediately surrender — to which the American commander, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, famously replied, “Nuts.”
The German troops tried to break the hold on Bastogne while also pushing west, creating a 50-by-30-mile-wide bulge in the Allied lines.
Battle of the Bulge is over, as German salient in Ardennes collapses under Allied counterattack; German offensive ends in 125,000 casualties pic.twitter.com/GcbrDS7OQr
— Second World War tweets from 1940 (@RealTimeWWII) January 25, 2017
Just days before the outbreak of the Battle of the Bulge, Patton called Third Army Chaplain James O’Neill to ask him for a good weather prayer. The skies had been overcast for weeks and heavy rains had made the roads muddy, all but stopping the Allied advance.
By O’Neill’s account, the general said the weather would need to change if they were going to win the war.
The Catholic priest drafted a prayer card and hand-delivered it to Patton, who read it and ordered, “Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one.”
The prayer card read: “Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have to contend. Grant us fair weather for battle.
“Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that armed with Thy power, we my advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and the wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.”
General Patton, desiring good weather for his advance to Bastogne, had Chaplain Fr. James O’Neill compose a card to be distributed to each one of the 250,000 troops under his command of the Third Army, and had all of the men pray this prayer. #WW2 pic.twitter.com/lbuQOFILY1
— WWII Pictures (@WWIIpix) December 22, 2017
On the back of the card was a Christmas greeting from the general, which stated, in part, “I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We march in our might to complete victory. May God’s blessing rest upon each of you on this Christmas Day.”
Patton told O’Neill, “I am a strong believer in prayer. A good soldier is not made merely by making him think and work. There is something in every soldier that goes deeper than thinking or working — it’s his ‘guts.’ It is something that he has built in there: It is a world of truth and power that is higher than himself.”
The war leader referred to the account of Gideon in the Bible who, despite being greatly outnumbered, fought bravely and prevailed because the Lord was with him.
Patton contended that his men should be praying, wherever they were — or eventually they would “crack up.”
Michael Keane, the author of “Patton: Blood, Guts, and Prayer,” told The Western Journal in 2019, “It is impossible to exaggerate the important role that faith and prayer played in Patton’s life. Prayer was a part of his daily ritual and he felt a deep personal faith that sustained him during times of adversity.”
Patton directed O’Neill to put out a training letter on the importance of prayer to every chaplain and to every commander down to the regimental level, 3,200 copies in all.
The chaplain exhorted in his letter: “We must urge, instruct, and indoctrinate every fighting man to pray as well as fight. In Gideon’s day, and in our own, spiritually alert minorities carry the burdens and bring the victories.”
O’Neill’s training letters and prayer cards went out to the Third Army’s ranks starting Dec. 12, 1944. Events on the battlefield took a dramatic turn on Dec, 16, when the Nazis launched their Ardennes offensive.
Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower tapped Patton’s Third Army to relieve the surrounded 101st Airborne.
Patton’s forces had been 85 miles to the south, with a portion of them already engaging the enemy — and now the muddy roads had turned to ice and snow.
On the same day the German commander demanded the 101st Airborne’s surrender (Dec. 22), Patton’s forces hit the southern edge of the bulge — but still over 30 miles from the besieged city.
Allied air cover remained grounded until the following day, Dec. 23.
That morning, likely after most of the Third Army’s soldiers had received their prayer cards, the weeks-long cloud cover finally broke to a clear, sunny and crisp 10-degree Fahrenheit day.
The fair weather meant the hard-pressed defenders of Bastogne could finally be re-supplied with ammunition and food by parachute airdrop while Allied fighter aircraft could strike German ground forces. Experiencing nearly 300 casualties per day, the 101st could only hope to hold out a few more days.
Finally, on Dec. 26, a beautiful sight appeared in the distance: a Sherman tank bearing the American star. The advanced elements of Patton’s Third Army were on their way, carving a tenuous, narrow corridor to the 101st that would widen the next day.
December 26 1944 Battle of the #Bulge
Relief of #Bastogne #BoxingDay Major #Milestone in #WW2#101st #Airborne #McAuliffe and 10th #Armored Div relieved by 4th Armored, spearhead of #Patton #ThirdArmy #USArmy #Ardennes pic.twitter.com/z8jczToEoU— John Robson 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 (@Jaeger_9) December 26, 2017
Patton, amazed by how quickly the weather changed, decided to award O’Neill the Bronze Star.
“Chaplain, you’re the most popular man in this Headquarters,” he told the priest. “You sure stand in good with the Lord and with the troops.”
The Third Army continued attacking the enemy throughout the sector. With the help of Allied units to the north, by the end of January, it had completely pushed back the Bulge and continued into Germany.
Patton saw O’Neill during this time frame and said to him, “Well, Padre, our prayers worked. I knew they would.”
Portions of this article first appeared in “We Hold These Truths” by Randall DeSoto.
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