George Smith Patton Jr. (
November 11,
1885 –
December 21,
1945) was a leading
U.S. Army general in
World War II. In his 36-year Army career he finished in Fifth Place in the Military
Pentathlon at the 1912
Olympic Games in
Stockholm,
Sweden and commanded major units of
North Africa, Sicily, and the
European Theater of Operations. Many have viewed Patton as a pure, ruthless and ferocious warrior, known by the nickname "Old Blood and Guts", a name given to him after a reporter misquoted his statement that it takes blood and
brains to win a war.
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing (
September 13,
1860 –
July 15,
1948) was an officer in the
United States Army. Pershing eventually rose to the highest rank ever held in the
United States Army—
General of the Armies—equivalent only to the posthumous rank of
George Washington. Pershing led the
American Expeditionary Force in
World War I and was regarded as a mentor by the generation of American generals who led the United States army forces in Europe during World War II, including
George C. Marshall,
Dwight D. Eisenhower,
Omar Bradley and
George S. Patton.
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born
David Dwight Eisenhower on
October 14,
1890 –
March 28,
1969) was an
American soldier and
politician, who served as the thirty-fourth
President of the United States (1953-1961). During
World War II, he served as
Supreme Commander of the
Allied forces in
Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944-45. In 1951 he became the first supreme commander of
NATO. As a
Republican, he was elected the 34th
President of the United States (1953–1961), serving for two terms. As President he ended the
Korean War, kept up the pressure on the
Soviet Union during the
Cold War, made
nuclear weapons a higher defense priority, launched the
space race, enlarged the
Social Security program, and began building the
Interstate Highway System.
General of the Army George Catlett Marshall, Jr., US Army (
December 31,
1880 –
October 16,
1959), was an
American military leader,
Secretary of State, and the third
Secretary of Defense. Once dubbed the “organizer of victory” by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in
World War II, Marshall later became instrumental in the post-war reconstruction effort in Europe, which became known as the
Marshall Plan. For this latter role Marshall received the
Nobel Peace Prize, the only American professional soldier to hold that distinction.
Omar Nelson Bradley (
February 12,
1893 –
April 8,
1981) was one of the main
U.S. Army field commanders in North Africa and Europe during
World War II and a
General of the Army of the
United States Army. He was the last surviving five star officer of the United States. On
May 5,
2000, the
United States Postal Service issued the
Distinguished Soldiers stamps in which Bradley was honored.
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