Now this is a feel good story
MG Paul Stanton being pinned with his second star
This is a great story. Major General Paul Stanton was just given his second star. The night before his promotional ceremony, he received a letter from his father, a retired three-star. With the letter was a pair of major general’s stars, with a provenance that dates back to one of the US Army’s greatest combat leaders, General George S. Patton III. Getting a surprise gift of hand-me-down stars from your father is one thing, but having them handed down from general to general from Old Blood and Guts himself is pretty awesome. I guess it’s just one more bonus of being a legacy.
From Army Times;
Stanton was at his kitchen table on the evening ahead of his promotion when his father, retired Army three-star and former budget director Edgar Stanton III, pulled out a letter with a sterling silver major general rank insignia pinned to it.
The letter, which Stanton shared online, explained the origin of the insignia: the stars had first belonged to the legendary, if controversial, Gen. George Patton, who received them when he took command of the 2nd Armored Division in 1942.
Patton’s widow, Beatrice Ayer, passed the stars to the general’s WWII-era operations officer — Gen. Paul Harkins — when he received his second star and took command of the 45th Infantry Division during the Korean War. Harkins went on to become the first commander of Military Assistance Command, Vietnam in 1962.
Harkins in turn gave Patton’s insignia to Maj. Gen. William Mundie, a former aide, when he took command of Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, in 1975.
Stanton’s father, who was Mundie’s aide during his tour at the helm of Army Recruiting Command, received the stars from his mentor in 2006, with instructions to pass them on to his son — should he reach the two-star rank.
And before Thursday evening, the younger Stanton never knew any of this.
…
Stanton said he’s bound to the wishes of Mundie, who died in 2019, when it comes to where the stars will go next.
“I haven’t decided how I’m going to memorialize it and hang onto it [in the short-term],” he shared. “[Long-term], I have basically two options: I can hand them to a future two-star general or I will dedicate them to the museum at [West Point].”
Category: Army, Feel Good Stories
Awesome, I say hand them down! Museums are full of stuff. Stuff in real life is so much better.
My thought exactly. The recipient will appreciate the honor and history more than a museum visitor will. Make them live on.
Roger that!
I’m a ham radio operator and back around 2001 I was stationed at COMPACFLT. I was a member of the Battleship Missouri Amateur Radio Club. We operated a station out of the radio spaces on the ship. Lots of fun.
Well, as the 60th Anniversary of the signing of the surrender approached, the club president heard that a museum in Monterey, CA had the manual morse key that had been used in 1945 to advise the world that the surrender had been signed.
After much begging and pleading, said club president was able to get the morse key loaned to us so that we could use it during a ham radio event on 2 September 2005.
We tagged our best manual morse operator to do the honors and at the beginning of our event, she first sent the actual message that had been sent with that key announcing the end of WW2. Pretty fucking awesome.
I still have a pic of me somewhere holding the key, looking happier than a pig in shit. Just incredible.
In between practicing my typewriting skills on my Smith Corona Galaxy type writer, I do a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet. Do you remember this one
“The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs back” My Drake R7 SW Receiver is down for the 3rd time (losing audio) and I’m unable to listen to the hams using their CW, RTTY which I get through my Universal M-8000 Communications terminal. Keep putting off sending the Drake to Ohio to a Ham that worked for Drake years ago.
How could i forget it?
Great hobby. Something about talking to someone on the other side of the world using the power of a 100 watt light bulb. Great fun. These days i’m strictly a CW guy. Only way i can get through!
Check out this guy:
Ah, yes! KPH! Still working AFAIK.
Keep them circulating and hand them down.
Share the history.
Starship Troopers (the book) passed down the ranks with the BIO, some good some bad.
Excellent. Pass ’em on, General. Much more meaningful than sitting in some museum collection.
Hope he has strong shoulders.
Mason…you’re right. This truly is a “feel good” story. I enjoyed it!
Keep breaking my rice bowl, Mason, and I’ll put you in charge of Mod Jail.
I keed, great find. Thanks!
Nice story!
This IS definitedly a great Feel Good Story.
Thank You, Mason, for sharing!
Keep passing them on. The Warrior Tradition of Pattons goes way back, including (the horror) of Georgie’s Grand Pappy and namesake, Colonel George S. Patton Sr, graduate of VMI and the Commander of the 22nd VA Cavalry Regiment, CSA, mortally wounded in action at the 3rd Battle of Winchester, 1864. Senior was the 2nd of 2 Patton boys that died in service, the other LTC Waller Patton falling at Gettysburg. Both are buried together. Likny below.
Good that these stars weren’t sold to a collector somewhere down the line. BZ to the ones that kept them to pass down.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9077/george-smith-patton
Patton’s son, MG George S Patton IV received two DSCs just like his old man. Patton’s son-in-law was also a DSC recipient (from WWII). All three men were Armor Branch officers.