What did the greatest general of World War II tell his men to do before the famed and bloody Battle of the Bulge? He told them to pray.
George Patton had his flaws like any other man, but he was an exceptional general — and a devout Christian. And as the Nazis desperately tried to break the Allied hold on Bastogne, Belgium, and the surrounding area, creating the miles-wide “bulge” after which the fighting was subsequently named, Patton knew that the Allies needed heavenly aid to win. More specifically, Patton and his men needed less damp, cloudy, nasty weather. So Patton turned to God and asked his chaplains to urge his soldiers to fervent and constant prayer. “We must march together, all out for God… With prayer, we cannot fail.”
Third Army head Chaplain James O’Neill found himself called upon just before the Battle of the Bulge (which began Dec. 16, 1944) by Gen. Patton, as The Western Journal relates. The overcast skies, the rain, and the consequently muddy conditions never seemed to end. The general stated flatly, according to the Catholic priest, that if the Allies were to make progress, the weather would have to change. It was O’Neill’s task to come up with a suitable prayer. “We must do something about those rains if we are to win the war,” Patton said, per WWII Memorial Friends.
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When O’Neill had drafted up his prayer, he brought it to Patton. After perusing it, Patton had another order for the chaplain: “Have 250,000 copies printed and see to it that every man in the Third Army gets one.” Below is the prayer:
Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations. Amen.
Friends of the National WWII Memorial relate further the interesting exchange between Patton and O’Neill illustrating not only how seriously Patton took prayer in his own life, but how much he wanted all his soldiers to take it seriously too. I also highly recommend reading O’Neill’s own personal recollection of the conversation.
“Chaplain, sit down for a moment; I want to talk to you about this business of prayer,” Patton began.
“As usual, he was dressed stunningly, and his six-foot-two powerfully built physique made an unforgettable silhouette against the great window,” O’Neill remembered. “The General Patton I saw there was the Army Commander to whom the welfare of the men under him was a matter of Personal responsibility.”
O’Neill [sat] as he was ordered. He had grown to admire Patton. The general cared that his men got hot meals whenever possible, that they had dry socks.
He had once seen Patton looking after a wounded man, injecting him with morphine, remaining with him until an ambulance arrived.
Patton frankly asked the priest, “Chaplain, how much praying is being done in the Third Army?” O’Neill clarified, “Does the General mean by chaplains, or by the men?”
“By everybody,” was the answer. O’Neill didn’t have a very positive report on that score. “I am afraid to admit it, but I do not believe that much praying is going on. When there is fighting, everyone prays, but now with this constant rain — when things are quiet, dangerously quiet, men just sit and wait for things to happen.”
Patton said seriously, “Chaplain, I am a strong believer in Prayer. There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by Praying… Up to now, in the Third Army, God has been very good to us. We have never retreated; we have suffered no defeats... This is because a lot of people back home are praying for us. We were lucky in Africa, in Sicily, and in Italy. Simply because people prayed. But we have to pray for ourselves, too.” If soldiers didn’t pray wherever they were, Patton added, they’d “crack up.”
Patton wanted O’Neill to draft up a Training Letter on the subject of prayer. He wanted his troops to understand that praying is “plugging in on a current whose source is in Heaven.” So O’Neill returned to his quarters to write up the letter, in Patton’s name, to be distributed ultimately to the Third Army’s 486 chaplains and all the organization commanders. Below are two passages from the letter:
As chaplains it is our business to pray. We preach its importance. We urge its practice. But the time is now to intensify our faith in prayer, not alone with ourselves, but with every believing man, Protestant, Catholic, Jew, or Christian in the ranks of the Third United States Army...
Pray when driving. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle…Pray for victory. Pray for our Army, and Pray for Peace.
We must march together, all out for God… With prayer, we cannot fail.
Patton and O’Neill’s advice is as vital for us today as it was then. Within our own country now, we see Satanic displays at government buildings, LGBTQ perversions poisoning all of our institutions, dozens of leaders clamoring for more unborn baby killing, and many other evils. We, like the Third Army before that fateful battle, need to pray to God and remember that with prayer, we cannot fail.
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