US General George S. Patton was born on November 11, 1895 in San Gabriel, California. From a young age he knew he wanted a military career. He obtained an appointment to West Point from which he graduated in 1909. During World War I, Patton commanded a tank brigade in France. He remained in the military during the inter-war years.
Patton was a corps commander in the assault on North Africa and Sicily by the Allied forces in World War II, and commanded the US Third Army in its sweep across France and into Germany.
Patton's image was seriously hurt when he slapped a soldier in the hospital for battle weariness. He died in an automobile accident after World War II, ended but his reputation as a larger-than-life military man stands to this day.