Patton quote (shell shock, anti-semitism)
Jesse
did Gen. Patton say "There's no such thing as shell shock. It's an
invention of
the Jews."?
URL for this story:
http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/
"From the outset of World War II, the very
subject of what used to be called "war
neurosis" or shell shock drove Pentagon brass
to distraction. Many officers agreed in
principle, if not in practice, with Gen. George
S. Patton, who in Sicily in 1943 slapped and
kicked a decorated soldier hospitalized with
shell shock, called him a "yellow bastard" and
shouted on his way out the door, "There's no
such thing as shell shock. It's an invention of
the Jews." Initially the War Department,
insisting the problem was weaklings and
malingerers and not the horror of war,
attempted to weed out sissies: 800,000 draftees
and recruits were rejected for psychological
reasons, 20 times the rate of World War I. It
didn't work. In 1943, the height of the war,
the number of U.S. soldiers discharged as
psychiatric casualties actually exceeded the
year's new recruits; by V-J Day, 504,000
American soldiers, enough for 50 divisions, had
been lost to emotional collapse."
somewhat related, I don't think germany had
shell shock problems as severe as those of
the US. how did England do in that regard?
---
Jesse
jcs...@asu.edu
http://www.public.asu.edu/~samuels
kent herrick
and can not remember where the citation for "Jewish invention" is.
Of course he may have been referring to Psychologists in general and
the fact that many were of the Jewish Faith . But whether Patton was
anti-semitic is very contestable.
E.F.Schelby
Jesse <jcs.r...@asu.edu> wrote:
>by V-J Day, 504,000
>American soldiers, enough for 50 divisions, had
>been lost to emotional collapse."
If factual, perhaps the discrepancy between the
depiction of the war on the homefront and the
reality had something to do with it?
>somewhat related, I don't think germany had
>shell shock problems as severe as those of
>the US. how did England do in that regard?
I don't have information on the Germans. As
for Britain, there is Pat Barker's novel
_Regeneration_ (William Abrahams, Dutton,
1992). I think it won the Booker Prize.
It is about shell shock in WWI, not WWII, but
that may not matter much as the attitude
surely remained similar. The book can complement
Paul Fussell's _The Great War and Modern Memory_."
_Regeneration_ starts out with Siegfried Sassoon's
July 1917 _A Soldier's Declaration_:
"I am making this statement as an act of
wilful defiance of military authority,
because I believe the war is being deliberately
prolonged by those who have the power to
end it.
I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting
on behalf of soldiers. I believe that this
war of defence and liberation, has now become
a war of aggression and conquest...."
Regards,
ES
Jesse
well, the quoted *paragraph* contained the alleged quote.
rather than just stating the alleged quote, I provided the
*paragraph* it is in.
once again, here is the url for the *paragrah*!
http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/1998/07/30media.html
since I posted, this story was moved from:
http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/
I think that anyone who /seriously/ wanted to know where I got
this could have bothered to go to the page in question and
find it. it is common netiquette to quote the previous poster,
that way I could have pointed out *what* my source is and that
your question to me was contained in the original post.
I have saved the page in question as a .txt file for those
pc/mac persons without access to the internet.
my question is the same as when first posted:
does anyone have any info on whether this is a correct
quote?
David R Brooks
Jesse <jcs.r...@asu.edu> wrote:
:
:somewhat related, I don't think germany had
:shell shock problems as severe as those of
:the US. how did England do in that regard?
At risk of drifting slightly off-topic, Britain has recently refused
to issue a general pardon for the 300 or so who faced firing squads
during WW1 for "cowardice", in circumstances that now would be
classified as shell-shock or similar. Many families maintain the fight
to clear their names.
-- Dave Brooks <http://www.iinet.net.au/~daveb>
PGP public key via <http://www.iinet.net.au/~daveb/crypto.html>, or servers
steven j forsberg
>did Gen. Patton say "There's no such thing as shell shock. It's an
>invention of
>the Jews."?
He did, though his statement is often left out of accounts since it
raises useemly questions. In general, Patton had the "low grade"
anti-semitism that was typical in that day. He thought that herding Jews
into death camps was a bit excessive, but didn't much like the idea of them
holding positions of authority in the US (or the army).
He had similar sentiments with regards to negro troops. On the
"negro question" he was willing to admit that they had their place in the
scheme of things, but he felt that for the most part they were not smart
enough to be able to handle armored warfare. Not coincidentally, armor was
his specialty -- everyone thought that blacks would do just fine in any job
but "my job".
regards,
-------------------------------------------------------------
sfor...@prodigy.net Wizard 87-01
Jesse
> Could you please cite the Jewish quotation. I have read on the subject
> and can not remember where the citation for "Jewish invention" is.
look, that's what I asked. why are you asking me my own question?
in the meantime, the article has moved to:
http://www.salonmagazine.com/media/1998/07/30media.html
> Of course he may have been referring to Psychologists in general and
> the fact that many were of the Jewish Faith . But whether Patton was
> anti-semitic is very contestable.
please cite data supporting that many psychologists were Jewish.
Mr. Shapiro was kind enough to write to me, here's what he said:
"Jesse
Thanks for writing.
The Patton quote, as well as a detailed account of the whole episode, can
be found in THE FIRST CASUALTY, Knight ed., a historical study of war
reporting.
Bruce Shapiro"
I was unfamiliar with this quote in it's apparent entirety.
is this a widely accepted and known quote?
Thanks,
Jesse
jcs...@asu.edu