'Killing Patton' review

Dear Editor,

The Trenton Public Library ordered "Killing Patton" by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard for its patrons. This book, which is a best seller, was published by Henry Holt and Company in 2014.

Important jigsaw puzzle pieces from my own childhood were available to me at last when I read it. I visualized events from World War II taking place from 1939 to 1945. When Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, I was in the fourth grade. This book jogged memories.

Suddenly, I was visualizing Dwight and Mamie Eisenhour shopping at a grocery store at Ninth and Corona Street. That was two blocks from where we lived. Elvira Dowd, Mamie's mother, lived in a nice home in the area east of that location.

When I sold Girl Scout cookies to Elvira Dowd, she hoped that Mamie and Ike would like them. She wondered if two boxes were enough.

By 1944, Eisenhour was the commander of the European Allied Forces. My father, Ted Hancock, installed a big map in our dining room. We kept track of their progress after the Normandy invasion.

Bill Blakley, my mother's brother was in the Battle of the Bulge Gen. George Patton was also there. We listened to radio news broadcasts and prayed for our troops.

Today, Eisenhour is honored for what he did in Europe and his presidency. We are just starting to learn about George Patton.

His tragic death has caught our attention. The Cadillac limousine in which he rode was hit by a stolen Army truck driven by Tech. Sgt. Robert Thompson. This young soldier was very drunk, but not charged.

"Killing Patton" says "Sgt. Thompson's blood alcohol level was never tested and he was never charged with driving under the influence."

Patton was severely injured. He suffered for two days and died Dec. 21, 1945. He is buried at Luxembourg Military Cemetery.

(My Uncle Bill survived, but had PTSD.)

The Cadillac limousine was built like a Sherman tank. If it hadn't been constructed of such heavy metal, the driver, Private Horace Woodring, and another passenger, Gen. Hap Gay, would also been hurt.

Robert Thompson said he borrowed the Army truck and he was turning into a street that was 15 feet from the accident. The facts show that he was intoxicated and didn't know where he was headed.

An Army MP blamed Patton's driver the accident. Gen. Gay testified that the soldier driving the truck caused it.

Helen Ruth Arnold,

Trenton, Neb.