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5. General George S. Patton and the War-Winning Sherman Tank Myth
- Fordham University Press
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . c h a p t e r fiv e ........................................................... general george s. patton and the war-winning sherman tank myth Nicholas D. Molnar Thirty years after World War II, General Isaac D. White, the highly respected former commander of the U.S. Army’s 2nd Armored Division, was asked to write the introduction to Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank, the seminal work on the most famous American tank of all time. Contrary to what would be expected from a reminiscing former general writing on what was one of the primary instruments of his military success, White pulled no punches and scathingly disparaged the tank. ‘‘To those of us who pitted our out-gunned Sherman against German armor,’’ he wrote in 1978, ‘‘the book does not entirely indicate the seeming insensitivity on the part of those responsible for the design and procuring of our fighting vehicle.’’ White added bitterly: ‘‘Some of us, even at the time, were aware of the bureaucratic and often ignorant wrangling and delays that occurred before our medium tanks were fitted with a tank gun that gave us a reasonable degree of equality against our enemy.’’1 General White’s postwar complaints echoed those of many tankers who fought in the Sherman during the war. One tank crew sergeant, after several months in combat, was totally demoralized: ‘‘As we go now every man has resigned himself to dying sooner or later because we don’t have a chance against German tanks.’’ The disheartened tanker went on to say, ‘‘All of this stuff we read about German tanks knocked out by our tanks makes us sick, because we know what prices we have to pay in men and equipment to accomplish this. . . . Our tanks are no match for the Panther and Tiger tanks, and it is just suicide to tackle them.’’2 The nickname that American tankers gave the Sherman was equally revealing of their contempt for it. While German panzers were nicknamed after ferocious jungle predators—the Panther and the Tiger—the Sherman’s alias was the Ronson, after a cigarette lighter, because of the tank’s propensity to burst into flame as soon as it was hit.3 Paradoxically, the Sherman, despite all the derisions and dark-humored nicknames the combat tankers had for it, was celebrated during the war as a symbol of American military might. The government, the media, and the advertising industry had all continually eulogized the Sherman throughout the conflict. Acclaim for the tank filled the pages of countless newspapers and popular magazines across the United States.4 Reporters and correspondents had no qualms about portraying the Sherman as ‘‘the best tank in the world’’ because many in the profession saw giving such high praise as performing a public service.5 The Popular Science 1942 article on the tank, entitled ‘‘America’s Tank Family,’’ described the Sherman as ‘‘the Army’s most versatile tank. . . . It’s 360-degree turret, high-velocity cannon, and low silhouette make it a powerful weapon.’’6 Another article from the same periodical in 1943, entitled ‘‘Why America’s Tanks Are the World’s Best,’’ praised the Sherman as, ‘‘Heavily gunned, fast, and mechanically dependable, . . . more than a match for anything the Germans , Japs, or Italians can send against it.’’7 The harshest disparagement of the Sherman came from a Collier’s article that described the tank as ‘‘pathetically ugly, . . . like a fat woman in a hoop skirt.’’8 When the Sherman’s powerful image came under fierce attack by combat tankers who were not afraid to make their feelings publicly known after the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, General George S. Patton, Jr., the celebrated leader of American armored forces and commander of the victorious U.S. Third Army, threw all his weight into maintaining the tank’s mythical stature. Although flawed, Patton’s defense of the Sherman was effective in stopping public criticism of the tank. Inadvertently, his statements had a much longer-lasting effect. Patton’s defense shaped how the Sherman would be remembered by scholars and laymen in the postwar world. Despite evidence from American tankers suggesting that the Sherman tank was an inferior deathtrap, Patton’s defense contributed to the tank’s being remembered primarily as a war-winning weapon. This essay examines Patton’s contribution to the creation of that myth and its reproduction in popular culture. General Patton was the perfect figure to defend the Sherman. The media portrayed him as a legendary figure throughout...