Evening star., 1949-06-12
By Hol BOYLE

Assoeioisd Press Foreign Correspondent
HAMM. Luxembourg, June II.
There Is a grave here big
enough for man. but too small
to hold a legend.
In the grave lies Gen. George
q. Patton, jr. But mis- legend
reaches across the miles and years
to all those who aspired to what
he lived by and that was lead
ership.
They didn't bury George"
here. they just put him under
ground. But nobody shoveled
earth on what he stood for nor
can any one as long as men put
their faith in valor.
Perhaps the word is glory. Gen.
Patton used that word often. He
liked the sound of 1t and he be-
lieved in it. He didn't fight the
system under which mankind has
dwelled in worry and wonder
since Cain killed Abel.
Took System az 1t Was.
He took it as it has been. He
said it would probably continue
and he believed and lived and
died in that belief-that man is
born to warfare and that since
his heritage is struggle, those
who struggle with the firmest
courage are the people who face
life IN the finest way.
There is probably a wisdom
above war called peace-the
worlds unknown adventure.
Whether peace is good or bad for
the human race has never been
fully determined because always
since the Garden of Eden this
race. facing life with more vanity
than the insects but with fewer
legs, has expressed its frustra-
tions in a strife pattern of weary
violence.
In individual cases these out
breaks are classified as homicide,
q kind Of crime. In the cases OF
nation against nation there is the
softer word, war, a kind Of polite
and collective murder. Under this
surprising moral order you can be
hanged for killing a man you
have a personal grievance against
or can be rewarded with a medal
for killing 25 strangers you don't
know.
George Patton took mankind as
1t is and as it always has been.
His real monument was ruthless,
personal honesty. He believed
that people, being what they are.
made war inevitable. not just once
but over and over.
Sometimes in Hot Water.
Because his courage came out of
his mouth as we'll as his heart.
because he spoke as bravely and
straightly as he acted, he was
sometimes in hot water with the
American people. He was more
honest with them than they were
with him. They compromised
and quibbled. He acted. He did
what they wanted done.
They wanted victory and he
gave it to them. There are diplo-
mats in military as well as civilian
life. Diplomats want success
without the attrition and risk of
gambling.
Gen. Patton was smart enough
to know that a bold general
spends mems lives to save other
mems lives. He hated foxholes
because he really believed that
digging in was wasted energy, that
in attacking again and again lay
success and few losses.
And when the Army needed a
tough men to do q tough job
there was Gen. Patton, tough
enough to order one man to his
death to keep two other men
alive. And that was the courage
he had-a courage above military
politics.
American Landmark.
Well, to him. to die In battle
for your country was the supreme
glory. Gen. Patton didn't create
the system, it created him.
And until men think of glory in
other terms, Gen. Patton will re-
main an American landmark.
Today he lies at the head of his
troops, a silent roster of some
$500 men. There are four good
stars on the simple white cross
above him.
No general who died in Europe
In the Second World War wears
this rank over his grave but him.
They had to set him apart in
death, as he set himself apart in
life, because so many people come
to see him. Here he Is our strong
ambassador. real symbol that
Americans are here to stay.
The grave holds Gen. Patton
but his legend is world wide-the
story Of courage in our time and
bravery as he l1onored 1t.
Mankind may kid itself, but
Gen. Patton didn't.