Favorite Finds: Letter from Patton

by Robert Kovacs

After my mom passed away, I discovered two shoeboxes filled with letters my dad had written to her while he was overseas during WWII. He served with the 4th Armored Division which was part of the Third Army.

Dad had promised — and complied — with her request to write to her every day. In amongst her things, there they were, all chronologically arranged from the day he left from New York bound for Great Britain to his telegram announcing his arrival back home in New Jersey and his discharge. Since my dad had passed away when I was only 8 years old, you can imagine how thrilled I was to follow his exploits, day-by-day, during the War.

When I finally got to the letters from mid-December, 1944, there was a different kind of envelope nestled among them. Dad had been using the same stationary for more than a year and a half, but this one was decidedly different. It was an envelop from Third Army Headquarters containing a letter to my mom from General George S. Patton, Jr. himself! He thanked her for her compliments and wished her the best of the holiday season. He even censored the letter himself and marked it “free” from postage (as soldiers were not required to buy stamps — even General Officers!).

I only wish I could have seen a copy of what Mom had written to the General! What “compliments” had she given?

Needless to say, this was a very important “find” that has been professionally mounted and framed. It occupies a place of pride in my “War Room.”