General Patton's Prayer

On December 17th, 1944 General Patton gave the order to swing the
Third Army from an eastward attack to a northward attack. At the time
his order was issued, a blizzard was raging in the Ardennes. Because
of the added difficulty faced by this bad weather, Patton called for
his Chaplain, Colonel James H. O'Neill. When O'Neill arrived, he was
ordered by the General to write a prayer asking for good weather to
fight the Germans. O'Neill was concerned about this, saying, "Sir,
surely you don't want me to ask for divine assistance in killing
people." General Patton replied, "I want a prayer for good weather and
I want it now." The Chaplain left the General's office and wrote the
prayer.

General Patton had both the prayer and a special Christmas greeting
printed on thousands of wallet-sized card that were given to every
soldier in the Third Army. Patton believed the prayer must have worked
because on the 20th of December the sky cleared and the XIX Tactical
Air Command's planes began flying and raising havoc with the Germans.
Third Army's soldiers could now get on with their job of winning the
war.

To show his appreciation, General Patton awarded the Bronze Star Medal
to Chaplain O'Neill.

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