General George S. Patton, Jr. Top Image: General George S. At p. The year-old general had led a life of adventure, fighting in almost every major American twentieth century conflict. He often led from the front, and he almost always delivered victory. His swift conquest of Sicily, his race across France, his relief of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, and his drive into Germany destroyed German armies, saved American lives, and captured the collective imagination of the American public.
Yet, all his laurels could not protect the General from a simple car accident eight months into the peace. Twelve days before his death, on December 9, , Patton was sitting in the back of his limousine when his driver, PFC Horace Woodring, sped too fast over a railroad crossing in Manheim, Germany, and plowed into the passenger-side of a left-turning Army truck headed into a depot.
The intersection where Patton had his car accident. The black car stands at roughly the position of the US Army truck, prior to it turning left into a depot, denoted by the cobblestone driveway. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration. No one was hurt except Patton, who, despite a nasty gash on his head, immediately realized he had been paralyzed.
Patton was rushed to the th Station Hospital in Heidelberg, 12 miles away. There, he was x-rayed, revealing two crushed vertebrae.
Simply put: Patton had broken his neck. For the next 12 days, Patton lay in traction, at times with painful fishhooks implanted into his cheeks on either side of his upper jaw, attached to weights to stabilize his neck.
