PATTON AND HIS THIRD ARMY
by Eugene G. Schulz
Category: Biography & Autobiography

Eugene G. Schulz was born on a farm in Clintonville, Wisconsin in 1923. He graduated from high school in May, 1941, and worked on his fathers farm and at a truck manufacturing plant until he was drafted into the army in January 1943. Schulz received his basic training at Camp Young, California at the Desert Training Center, and later at Camp Campbell, Kentucky. He was assigned to the IV Armored Corps (later named the XX Corps) where he was a typist in the G-3 Section. His duties included the typing of battle orders developed by Colonel W. B. Griffith, the G-3 of XX Corps Headquarters. The XX Corps sailed to England in February 1944 on the Queen Mary with 16,000 soldiers on board, completing the voyage in five days. After final training in England, the XX Corps landed on Utah Beach in Normandy on D+46. His unit was attached to General Pattons Third Army and spearheaded the drive across France, through Germany and into Austria where they met the Russian Army on V-E Day. Schulz was awarded the Bronze Star medal when the war ended. He served in the Army of Occupation in Germany, then returned to the States and was discharged on December 1, 1945. He enrolled at the University of WisconsinMadison taking advantage of the GI Bill of Rights, and earning Bachelors and Masters degrees in Business Administration. Schulz met his wife, Eleanore, at the University and they were married in 1949. Schulz worked as an investment research officer at the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company in Milwaukee for 36 years. The Schulzs have been retired since 1988 and continue to live in Milwaukee. They are world travelers. They have five sons, all married, and sixteen grandchildren.