The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-06-20

EQSOn HeTS Ol HIS lllOuGll, croWfoot wrinkles dittoed the big grin, and his brown eyes sparkled in the middle of his pink face and -fringed balding head. He wore three rings, two on his left hand, one on his right. His voice was sur- prisingly soft. He started to talk about tanks.
 Tanks, he said, were nothing but armored and armed infantry. In the infantry you had the squad and in the tanks you had the crew. The tanks enabled the soldiers to arrive at the scene of battle less fatigued, and they enabled the soldiers to carry two blankets instead of one. Also, if the soldier got his feet wet, he could dry his shoes over the eX- haust pipe.
 The General said he thought there was sort of race instinct that made people afraid of tanks. They used to be afraid of saber- toothed tigers and dinosaurs and things like that, and so now when they see tank coming they think, My goodness. Here comes a saber- toothed tiger" and they run in- stinctively.
 TANKS THROW
 THE TELLING PUNCH
 But tanks, he said, enabled armies to break through enemy lines to gain an advantage and keep the enemy running. If you're a prize fighter as he and General Surles once were - lowing to the War De- partment's Director of Public Re- lations you know that when you get man on his heels you can lick him. If he can get back on his toes, or if he can put lemon juice in his mouth and ice on his head between rounds. it's lot harder. But if you keep him on his heels he just natur- ally keeps on going over backward further and further until you bury him.
 Secretary Stimson had introduced Paton as cavalryman. The Gen. eral said that if he had had a little cavalry in Tunisia and Italy, the bag of prisoners would have been a lot bigger. He figured it like this: If a man can go N number of miles an hour on foot, he can go N-plus- one miles if hes retreating. But if you go after him at N-plus- three miles an hour on horseback, you Just naturally overtake a lot more.
 Patton said he did have a little cavalry in Africa, at that Nine hundred men mounted on jackasses and bulls and burros and such things. But what amazed the Gen. eral was how ignorant most Amer jeans are about animals. They can all drive an automobile but they can't saddle horse to save their lives
 RHINE BCGEYMAN
 DEBUNKED
 Under Stimson's prodding, Pat ton told about his Rhine crossings. The Rhine was supposed to be a bogeyman, Patton said, and the Germans sang songs about it to give It buld-up. But one of his divi-- slons crossed at the Lorelei Rocks to capture the Rhinegold, and another built bridge across the Rhine in day less time than Labinius took to do the same Tor Caesars Tenth Le- zion, while two other divisions had got across on barges so quietly that one major said the only things he missed on the moonlight ride was pretty girl.
 One operation planend but not carried out was the use 25O Cub planes, each carrying one man and making a round trip crossing of the Rhine every ten minutes.
 T wish We had done that" said Patton. Tt would have been quite an airborne operation"
 When somebody asked him if he meant that or was just being face tlous, he said: "Oh, I was just be- Ing facetious, I'm sorry I have such a pretty wit. People don't realize it.