George S. Patton: Encyclopedia II - George S. Patton

On December 9th, a day before he was due to return to the United States, Patton was severely injured in a road accident. He and General Hap Gay were on a daytrip to hunt pheasants in the country, outside Mannheim. It was a cold, wet, hazy December morning. Their 1939 Cadillac Model 75 was driven by PFC Horace Woodring. Patton sat in the back seat, on the right with Gen. Gay to his left, as per custom. At 11:45 near Necker Stadt (Käfertal) a 2 1/2 ton truck driven by T/5 Robert L. Thompson appeared out of the haze and made a left-hand turn towards a side road. The Cadillac smashed into the truck. General Patton was thrown forward and his head struck a metal part of the partition between the front and back seats. Gay and Woodring were uninjured. Paralyzed from the neck down, George Patton died of an embolism on 21st December 1945 at the military hospital in Heidelberg, Germany with his wife present.

Patton was buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Luxembourg along with other members of the Third Army [7]. A cenotaph was placed at the Wilson/Patton family plot at the San Gabriel Cemetery in San Gabriel, California. Patton's car was repaired and used by other officers. The car is now on on display, with other Patton artifacts, at the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Accident and death", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

George S. Patton - Accident and death

George S. Patton - Accident and death: Encyclopedia II - George S. Patton - Accident and death

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George S. Patton: Encyclopedia II - George S. Patton - Accident and death

George S. Patton - Accident and death

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