War stories: serving under General Patton in WW II

Larry Fischer presented a Certificate of Appreciation from Post 227
to Jack Hasse at the end of his presentation.

Text and photo by Jerry Pickard

On Tuesday, December 6, 2016 American Legion Post 227 held their monthly meeting. The meeting was well attended, with several members of the community visiting to hear speaker Jack Hasse speak of his experiences as a Military Police Private in General Patton's 3rd army.

Mr. Hasse joined the Army in 1943 and served until 1946. He related how he met General Patton while directing tank traffic at a river crossing. General Patton thought his tanks weren't moving fast enough so he collared Pvt. Hasse and proceeded to chew him out for not moving traffic fast enough.

Mr. Hasse stated that Gen. Patton had a high squeaky voice, unlike George C. Scott who portrayed him in the movie "Patton". He also stated that General Patton's pistols were ivory handled, not pearl as is commonly believed. And when he was angry he used a lot of profanity.

In their drive into and through Germany, Mr. Hasse was involved in the liberation of several concentration camps and POW camps ... something he would never forget.

At the end of his presentation he held a question and answer session and fielded many questions from the audience regarding General Patton and his experiences in the 3rd Army.