General Omar Bradley
Admiral Ramsay
Marshal Tedder
Ike
General Montgomery
Marshal Tafford
General Bedell Smith
Patton wouldn't be there even if he was in town. Too low ranking, he. This is the next tier up. This is February of 44, and Patton was in the doghouse still, a little bit, anyway, but training up the 3rd Army.
More stars at those cheap, worn wooden felt top tables than there are stars in the sky. Commanding millions of men to fight and die using maps pinned crookedly to the wall. Sitting in plane hard metal chairs without armrests under 2 bulbs.
Billions upon billions spent. It would be trillions today. And these men shepherding those massive resources on furniture barely acceptable to teenage boys today playing Dungeons and Dragons in their parent's basement.
Do you think when seven 4 stars meet at the Pentagon or in Bahrain the room looks that sparse? Would they stand for it? Maybe. Maybe if they were 2 to 5 years into such a big war for survival, they'd be humble enough and frugal enough.
A war that big, commanded in that room. To think.
There is a lack of meaningless ribbons on their chests too.
ReplyDeleteThey may have met in nondescript places, but they lived manor houses in England and Chateaus in France.
ReplyDeleteMonty had a custom built trailer and a menagerie of birds that he took everywhere when commanding troops in the field. Even Patton was known for finding great places to stay in while the 3rd Army charged across France and Germany. Rank, after all, does have it's privileges. :-)