A Present for Gen. Patton’s Wife

September 18, 2008 – 6:00 am

For most of the war, Wes was stationed in Naples, Italy in the Finance section of the Army. Here soldiers came to receive their pay, and on occasion, some rather famous people arrived.

One of his fondest memories was the day General Patton arrived at the window requesting $400 to buy a Christmas present for his wife. As Wes would do with any such request from a member of the military, he said, “Sir, I need your name, rank, and serial number.” And Wes still has the paper upon which was written, George S. Patton, Jr. with rank and serial number.

Wes told him to go to the next window to receive his money from the sergeant on duty. And off went General Patton with his money. When the major sitting in the back room heard that General Patton had been in the bank, he came crashing out asking why Wes and the others had not buzzed him.

Another famous visitor was the boxer Jack Dempsey, who was in Naples entertaining the troops. His request was for far less money - $60.00.

Wes tells about the transporting of a huge some of money from the United States to Italy – 25 million in lira. Wes was on the ship that brought the money to Italy as it went down the coast of the United States to South America. From there, he headed across the Atlantic with a full naval escort, zigzagging across the ocean into the Mediterranean. It took Italian workers one-half day to unload all the cartons.

At one point, Wes was in Rome with a group of other soldiers and nurses. In his second floor apartment, the Pope came out to bless them while sitting on a sort of chair carried by four men.

Later in the war, Wes was sent to the southern part of Italy where trees were being cut down into huge logs for use as ballast in the ships returning empty to the United States.

Upon his discharge, Wes returned to Philadelphia and went to work for Bell Telephone, where he continued for many years. His companion the first day, took him to the North Philadelphia garage to sign him up for the credit union and to take care of first things first – coffee.

For more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com

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