I was born and grew up in Alhambra, CA. General Patton was born in 1885 in adjacent San Gabriel, CA. His family played a significant part in the history of that region. You may have heard of the nearby Mt. Wilson Observatory above Pasadena. Mt. Wilson was named for Patton's grandfather. There are many interesting details in published biographies. I knew Patton's sister who lived in San Marino. In 1945 General Patton and General Jimmy Doolittle (air raid on Tokyo) visited the area and spoke in Alhambra in front of the city hall. They were accompanied by Marjorie Reynolds who had just starred with Bing Crosby in Holliday Inn, the movie that introduced the song White Christmas. The Generals arrived in an olive-drab 1942 Packard Clipper. As usual, I positioned myself front and center right next to the microphone. Patton and Doolittle delivered their talks to rousing cheers well deserved. Did you know that, at the end of the war in Europe, Patton recommended that we (U.S.) being all-powerful at the time, should take over the U.S.S.R. to bring about a peaceful world, and what's more, he offered to do the job himself in five days. (but the "diplomats" won out) It has been speculated that the subsequent Korean war, cold war arms race, Cuban missile crisis and the Vietnam war would have been avoided had his advice been followed. Of possible interest to you and to conclude my tale, when the appearance in Alhambra was over, General Patton went to a small church on Roses Road in San Gabriel where he participated in their Sunday School services. TT
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