Target Patton: The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton (World War II Collection)

The author does a respectable job of laying out the timelines and the inconsistencies in the official story. That story has duped the Patton Museum, the Patton family and the American public for nearly 80 years. The conclusions could have been made in the final chapters but, instead, the reader is left with more unanswerable questions than when you start the first chapter. Circumstantial cases can and do lead to conclusion beyond a reasonable doubt. The author denies, in the final chapters, that this level of conclusions of law is attainable. I disagree. He makes a strong case with direct testimony from two witnesses along with the unavailability of all the official government reports, that a coverup involving the highest levels of the White House was in play.Other than the author abandoning his case at the end, I would have given it a 5 star review.

No, wait a minute - I got that wrong - Rock Hudson killed James Dean - at least as reported years back by some whistle-blower who claimed Hudson had the hots for Dean and when he was rebuffed, he fixed Dean's Porsche's brakes so that he would crash. Dean, in truth, had a crash much the same as Patton's: a vehicle making a sudden left hand turn right in the path of the Porsche and in Patton's case a Cadillac. The point is: conspiracies abound as do tragic, pointless accidents.As to this book. I enjoyed reading it very much - much the same way I enjoy watching a James Bond movie. But the book's main cornerstone - the story of one James Bondish character named Bazata - is the weakest point of the story of the conspiracy to kill old Blood and Guts! Bazata supposedly jammed open the Caddy's window when no one was looking so that he could shoot a projectile at the General when the car was finally stopped by its collision with an army truck, presumably driven by a co-conspirator. How did Bazata know that Patton would move to the back seat and offer his front seat to the hunting dog who was cold? How did Bazata know Patton would be looking out the half opened window so that he could shoot his rock or block of wood or whatever the heck he is supposed to have shot at the General? Bazata was an artist in mid-years (we never quite learn how this secret agent/assassin ever became a world-famous artist) and the thing about artists is that they are...highly imaginative! It is also curious that Bazata began writing his diaries (which read like the phony confessions of the James Maybrick/Jack the Ripper hoax diary) not long after the colossal hit, Oscar-winning movie "Patton" came out. A quote from Wilcox's book will convey my meaning, I hope: "His diaries, for the most part, support his verbal claims. They provide volumes of agonized discussion of his involvement in the Patton plot. 'I killed him. This is the truth...Why am I so evil?' On and on." The rest of the way Bazata talks the talk makes him sound less and less like one who actually, truly walked the walk. His diary's recounting of his offing some hobos out West when he was only 18 reads like a Mickey Spillane novel. If it really happened, it is a story a man would not so callously reveal in all its lurid detail. Instead of protesting too much, he doth tell too much. The sad hobo-kill story sounds as bragadoccio-macho fake as his entire claim to have shot Patton in a conspiracy between 'Wild Bill' Donovan, the Ruskies, Eisenhower perhaps, some Germans perhaps, maybe Rock Hudson too (kidding there). Anyway...Bazata definitely has some paper-trail history as to some clandestine missions and cloak-and-dagger doings, but his claim regarding Patton reminds me of Col. Corso's book about the Roswell UFO crash and his part in it. Corso, now deceased, had all the right credentials to seem like the ultimate whistle-blower regarding the still debated '47 crash in Roswell. He was right in there with MacArthur and Ike and had a whole chestful of medals - but his story about Roswell just rings false, even amongst Roswell experts. Did he write the book for fame or fortune or to leave his grandkids something or just to exit on the wings of a prank? We'll never know. But...Bazata reminds me of a Col. Corso sort. Robert Wilcox writes of Bazata and another whistle-blower regarding the Patton assassination: "They are not kooks. Their testimony is not rumor." How does he know? There is a Lt. Hadden (the aide-de-camp to General Gay who was, in fact, in the back seat with Patton on that fateful day) who in later years told stories that he was in the car also, in the front seat. But the fact is, he wasn't. (There was chap several years ago who made the AP with a story that he played 'King Kong' in the 1933 classic. It was in all the newspapers across the world. 'Yup, that was me up there on the Empire State Building in a monkey suit, batting away at all those warplanes' is what he said, by way of paraphrase. Trouble was, King Kong was NEVER a man-in-a-suit, but an 18" animated puppet! Yet the uninformed readers of the day believed this man's ludicrous story, as did the reporters who interviewd him and then ran with the story via AP.) Anyway, too much credence is given Bazata's story, which actually changed throughout the years.Having said all of this, the book opened my eyes to alot of the cozy relationships between the FDR administration and the Soviets, Patton's controversial career and provocative, prescient talk regarding the dangers of the Soviet Union. Interesting is the revelation that the Soviet secret service did, indeed, use death by staged auto accident to eliminate undesirables. And Patton must have been much hated by them as he was seeking to continue the war, only this time against the Russians. The Russians may well have desired him dead and arranged the accident that left Patton paralyzed from the neck down. Trouble is, he was no longer in charge of any sizeable army - having lost the Third - and therefore couldn't have been an actual threat in starting World War III. Plus, everyone knew he was returning to the States (the day after the accident) to resign from the army! So why would "Uncle Joe" mandate his death? And once news came out that he had been paralyzed in the accident, why would he possibly be finished off by an agent sneaking into his hospital room and injecting an embolism or some other agent in his system to kill him once and for all? The man was paralyzed - and no longer a threat to the Soviet's security. Sure, Ike and others were afraid of what he would say once he returned to the States - but would they have conspired to actually kill him once he was medically delcared paralyzed from the neck down?As I say, the book is a very interesting in dealing with the larger issues of world affairs at that time. And it is possible that the Soviets wanted payback for all of Patton's ranting against them and that the American OSS (who apparently were very cozy with the Russian's spy agency) may have gone along with the plotting of the accident to hopefully kill the General so as to shut his mouth. But...it is a stretch. Car accidents do, afterall, happen.Even Charles Provence of the Patton Historical Soceity, in his diplomatic introduction writes "Does he (Wilcox) prove his assertions? Well, the thing is...if I tell that, I will be giving away the entire story and I certainly can't do that." Why can't he? Why can't he offer his opinion as to whether Wilcox has proved his case? Because a "No" would, yes, dampen a potential buyer's inclination to actually buy the book - but then if Provence's verdict were, indeed, "No" then Mr. Provence would not have written the intro. If "Yes", well, the detailed hows and whys of the conspiracy to kill General Patton would not have been given away. So therefore Provence walks a razor's edge and says much of what he thinks by actually saying so little. I think he walks that edge because the book is extremely pro-Patton. To hear Wilcox tell it, Patton seems to have won the war single-handedly. (Don't misunderstand me: Patton had a "genius for war" and did extremely much in winning the war.) The book, by-the-way, is subtitled "The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton." No question mark is included on the dustjacket or on the book's title page - yet by the book's end, Wilcox admits that the truth will never be known! (So why no question mark in the subtitle? Well, it wouldn't sell as much it it was posed as a hypothetical, now would it?) Wilcox goes further and suggests exhuming Patton's body and testing the remains to settle the matter once and for all. I can't see how exhuming Patton's body would answer any of the claims made in the book.One other small point. Does no one proof read books anymore? I have come across so many errors of fact and spelling in so many recently published books that it just boggles the mind. Here's the beef: Orson Welles is mentioned a few times in the book. Yet Wilcox spells the surname "Wells". Every intelligent, educated, thinking man - particularly a writer! - should know that the great cinematic icon's named is spelled "Welles" and not "Wells." So this tiny, seemingly insignificant errormakes me more guarded as regards all of the other "facts" in the book. How much else is just plain inaccurate and wrong?In summation, the book is entertaining to read - but read it with a grain or salt - or a whole shaker-full perhaps would be better! And then watch the movies "Patton" and the little-known follow-up also with George C. Scott entitled "The Last Days of Patton" (a very moving and touching film). Enjoy!

In this Cold War CSI thriller, Robert K. Wilcox argues that General George S. Patton Jr. did not succumb to injuries suffered in an unfortunate fender-bender accident, in December 1945, but was instead murdered. The author goes on to claim the hit was a joint OSS (Office of Strategic Services-forerunner to the CIA)/ Soviet NKVD plot orchestrated between William J. "Wild Bill" Donovan and Joseph Stalin's secret spy organization. The author holds that Patton, who had created strong enemies among the highest levels of American, British, and Soviet political and military hierarchy, was bitter, if not somewhat mentally unbalanced, due to retire and write a tell-all book. He needed to be silenced. According to Wilcox, the murder was a complex conspiracy that involved, among others: the driver of the truck that veered in the path of Patton's Cadillac staff limo, a well placed assassin firing a rock from a specially designed Czechoslovakian air rifle through a four inch opening in the back window (recall the movie "Brass Target"), striking Patton, to MPs on the scene, medical personnel at the hospital, and the list goes on and on. When the so-called accident failed to kill Patton, Wilcox suggests the possibilities that Patton was bludgeoned inside the military ambulance en route to the Hospital (causing his serious scalp wound), and finally, a co-conspirator disguised as a hospital attendant slipping a cyanide solution through his intravenous tube triggering the embolism the eventually caused his death twelve days later (a favorite Soviet assassination method, as Wilcox reveals).Presenting such an extraordinary case is one thing, convincing his readers is quite another. Wilcox's star witness is an ex-OSS agent who claims (as early as 1979) that he received the mission to assassinate Patton directly from Donovan. Since this agent admired Patton, he passed it off to an accomplice. The only trouble is, anyone who could either contest or verify his story is already dead (a fact that Wilcox readily admits to). A second witness, a former Counter-Intelligence Corps (CIC) agent who infiltrated the NKVD warned Donovan that Patton was on Stalin's hit list, unaware of Donovan's involvement. Wilcox enjoys adding an element of cloak & dagger to his trek by stating that his OSS witness's multi-volume diary has been copied and dispersed to trusted friends for safe-keeping. This die-hard Cold-Warriorism seeps through Wilcox's story in a few places. He also tends to dramatize a discovery by stating: "A formally Top Secret document I found at the National Archives...." Anyone who has ever conducted research at the National Archives will smile as 99.9% of all documents housed there were at one time classified as "Top Secret." The author's notes are extensive, if somewhat sloppy, in places. One example states confusingly, "hospital records," without clearly citing what records, where were they located, who comprised them, etc.In true CSI fashion, Wilcox takes his readers along with him as he retraces the events leading to Patton's death. This is a smart tactic, and one that holds the reader's interest. Hurdles abound: from missing accident reports, numerous conflicting eye-witness testimonies, Wilcox seems to run into one dead end after another. The author is up-front and admits openly when a research path has become exhausted, but at the same time, it seems obvious that some ellipsis sprinkled statements; especially those from clueless relatives of long-dead participants are taken out of context to support his argument. Although Wilcox lists secondary sources published by Patton family members, there is no suggestion that he has support from the family. He does get the nod from Charles Province, Patton scholar and keeper of the George S. Patton Jr. Society web site, however. The author seems to have a fixation with automobiles, methodically concluding, that the Cadillac limo housed at the Patton Museum at Fort Knox in not THE car that Patton was riding in at the time of his accident (as claimed), to a needless tangent investigating what ever happened to Hermann Goering's limo, (the Russians have it) a vehicle that had nothing to do with Patton's death.This reviewer dove into this book with skeptical red flags flying (no Cold War pun intended). Admittedly, Wilcox's presentation is well written and holds the readers' interest. This is especially true when the author takes the reader off on many lengthy tangents and digressions suggesting: Donovan allowed hundreds of Soviet spies to operate within the United States during the war; the Soviet Union not only co-operated with the Allies in an effort to defeat Nazi Germany, but actually influenced favorable post-war policy from within the United States. Written looking through Cold War lenses, Wilcox argues, for example, that a great opportunity was missed when a Nazi spy ring in the Balkans offered its services to the US to spy on the Soviet Union, but was declined by Donovan. Informed readers will quickly note that help from former Nazis in any capacity was against official policy, something Patton was rebuked for in post-war Bavaria, and risks facing Wilcox with an interesting contradiction. While at risk of losing readers in these far flung digressions, the author's writing skills instead maintains interest, and makes for the book's strongest asset.Although the case arguing the Patton was murdered is not new, Wilcox tries to get a lot of mileage revamping it. The questions he raises range from the etude and thought provoking, to the ridiculous. In his final argument, Wilcox admits the truth may never be known, but that a "strong case" exists that Patton was murdered. This reader isn't buying it, and Wilcox's case is admittedly strong in places while exceedingly weak in others. His book attests to the fact, however, that no matter how controversial a theory is, a well written argument strengthens its foundation. Wilcox's ability to spin a good yarn and hold the readers' interest warrants a four-star rating.

*****

Still redaing and loving it.

Excellent read of an interesting concept.

This book is brilliantly researched and referenced and quickly convinced me, admittedly already convinced that Patton was assassinated, that my convictions were justified. The evidence is overwhelming. He was killed to stop him voicing his concerns about Stalin and prevent him advocating a continuation of the war to stop him conquering half of Europe. He was killed to allow the ‘cold war’ to begin, along with it the justification for uncountable $trillions in ‘defence’ budgets. He was killed by the same ‘monolithic and ruthless conspiracy’ JFK later warned of because he threatened their plans for the world.

When I was just 4 years old I heard General Patton speak at the Hamilton, Massachusetts athletic field (my family lived in nearby Wenham). My mother told me later that he had died in an automobile accident. This book gives the shocking background about his death - and is very conviencing! Amazing that the truth came out!