WW II Christmas 1944 Card from Gen. Patton to Third US Army
The Christmas Card was created on 8 December 1944, written by Msgr. James H. O'Neill, Chief Chaplain of the Third Army. He wrote it at the request of Gen. Patton at Third Army Headquarters, then located in the Caserne Molifor in Nancy, France. This is the text of Patton's Christmas Prayer, on the other side of the card. Rain had plagued Third Army throughout the Moselle and Saar Campaigns from September 1944 to 8 December, the motivation for the words: Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies, and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.
About 250 thousand of these cards were printed and distributed. By Christmas Day 1944, Patton's troops were committed to the relief of Bastogne, Belgium, the key engagement of the Battle of Bulge. Just when needed, the skies cleared enabling crucial supplies to be airdropped to the defenders and allowing time for Third Army to arrive.
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Today in WW II: 11 Sep 1944 Following Operation DRAGOON, US Seventh Army links up with Patton's Third Army west of Dijon, France, creating a solid wall of Allied forces stretching from Antwerp, Holland to the Swiss border. More ↓
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11 Sep 1944 First into Germany: At 1805 a 5th Armored Division patrol reached the Our River, then waded across, moving from Luxembourg into Germany near Stalzemburg, on the Siegfried Line.
Visit the Olive-Drab.com World War II Timeline for day-by-day events 1939-1945! See also WW2 Books.
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