81 Years Later, George Patton’s 48-Hour Promise at Verdun Is Still the Most Audacious Thing Any US Army General Said in a Briefing Room

81 Years Later, George Patton’s 48-Hour Promise at Verdun Is Still the Most Audacious Thing Any US Army General Said in a Briefing Room

The room laughed at US Army General George Patton, and the laughter was reasonable — no army that size had ever reversed itself at that speed in winter. But the movement had already started the night before. The full story of the promise at Verdun and the delivery that kept it, to the day, with the named divisions.