CLOSE  President Barack Obama has said: "My grandfather marched with Patton across Europe." What he should have said: "My grandfather served in Europe with Courtney Hodges' First Army, then briefly with Patton late in the war."   The "Marching with Patton" symbolic theme, or close variations thereof, has been spoken by President Obama many times during 2008-2009, always without elaboration, but with understandable pride in his grandfather's WWII service. As early as Obama's 1995 autobiography, he wrote that his grandfather was "sloshing around the mud of France, part of Patton's Army." The facts, however, paint a different picture. (See details of his grandfather's service further below, based on new research by the Associated Press and as published in the Army Times on 6/6/2009.) Apparently the President, like perhaps 99% of the American public, wrongly assumes that it was "Patton's Army" that liberated western Europe and defeated Nazi Germany. And who can fault the President or the public? There has been a never-ending and often careless "bombardment," so to speak, of the Patton name and image from television, magazines, books, Hollywood, and most recently from a production by famed documentary film director Ken Burns, as well as repeatedly from The History Channel. (continued below) Above: Gen. Courtney Hodges (left) visiting the 3rd Armored Division in France in 1944, and (right) Gen. George Patton photographed in 1945 after the war in Europe. (Hodges photo by Marvin Mischnick, 3AD Hq G-2 photographer, and Patton photo from the Patton Museum, Fort Knox, KY.)   No one can dispute the brilliance and accomplishments of Gen. Patton in North Africa, Sicily, and western Europe. But with regard to contributing to the Allied victory in Europe, consider this: It was not Patton's Third Army, but Hodges' First Army, initially and briefly under command of Omar Bradley, that achieved the following (with its 3rd Armored Division - no connection to the Third Army - often at the front of the action): Landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day Led the break-out from Normandy at St. Lô Liberated Paris First to cross the Seine River First to fire artillery into Germany First to enter German soil First to cross the Siegfried Line First to capture major German cities First to cross the Rhine River Largest total capture of German troops by a U.S. force First to link up with Soviet forces Largest U.S. force under single command in WWII (18 divisions at peak) Beginning on August 1st, 1944, following St. Lô, it was Gen. Courtney Hodges who commanded the First Army all the way to the German surrender in May, 1945. Our hope is that President Obama, Ken Burns, the producers at The History Channel, and media professionals everywhere, will finally discover Courtney Hodges, arguably the "real Patton" of the Allied victory in Europe, whose greatest flaws seem to have been his reserved, thoughtful demeanor (i.e., uncolorful) and an aversion to self-promotion. About President Obama's Grandfather, Sgt. Stanley A. Dunham Dunham served in the Army Air Corps with a supply & maintenance ground unit of the 9th Air Force in support of Gen. Patton's Third Army. However that was limited to about two months during February to early April, 1945, after the Battle of the Bulge. Prior to that, starting in Normandy in late July, 1944, and for the next six months, Dunham's unit was in support of Gen. Courtney Hodges' First Army. During that time, Hodges' troops advanced from Normandy through northern France, then into Belgium, and then becoming the first Allied ground force to enter Germany. Again, the 3rd Armored Division (no connection to Patton or the Third Army) was often the lead unit in Hodges' advance. Above editorial was written in 2009 by Vic Damon of 3AD.com staff in collaboration with 3AD WWII veteran Marvin Mischnick, formerly of Division Hq G-2. Return to Top CLOSE