For anyone who cares about military history, and for a great many who don't, one stop on the museum tour has got to be the General George Patton Museum in Fort Knox, KY. Because of Patton's original strategies for tank warfare, some historians believe him to have been one of the great military thinkers of the ages. The Patton Museum is a shrine to that idea. There are tanks of course - rows and rows of them, both inside the museum and in the park next door, as well as a detailed history of armored warfare from World War One (where Patton began his career as a visionary tank strategist, was shot in the leg while directing a tank, and won a Distinguished Service Cross for heroism) through World War Two (and his armored division's famous breakout in Normandy).
The "Evolution of Armed Warfare'' tank exhibit is enough reason alone to pay a visit to Fort Knox. Here is one of the British Mark V's - the first tanks ever used, on the Fourth of July, 1918, at the Battle of Hamel. Here's a German Panzer; here's a Sherman; over there are a Soviet T72, and an M1 Abrams of the sort used in the first Gulf War. There are other exhibits as well, of United States Army rifles and pistols and submachine guns; of Nazi, Russian, and North Vietnamese weapons. And on and on.
These instruments of war aren't all that you'll find at the Patton Museum. There are also a model of the famous Fort Knox Bullion Depository that was used in the movie Goldfinger, a portion of the Berlin Wall, and the head of a Saddam Hussein statue.
Still, it's the documentation of George Patton's life that one really comes to see. There are scores of photographs - of the young West Point cadet, for example; of the general addressing his troops; of the dog-lover with his favorite bull terrier, Willie, who lived with Patton in his truck and followed him into battle. You'll see the clothes he wore, the cars he drove, his wartime souvenirs. You'll see the general's helmet, emblazoned with its three stars, his dress uniform decorated with its medals, his fleece-lined leather jacket, his jodhpurs, riding crops, and, perhaps most fascinating of all, the pair of pearl-handled pistols that Patton famously wore on each hip.
Just as intriguing as the personal effects are the vehicles that Patton used, such as his office van, complete with the general's desk and desk chair, his rocking chair, and the Thermos that he used to pour his coffee.
Still more interesting is the 1938 (or 1939) Cadillac Model 75 staff car that Patton was (or was not) riding in on December 9, 1945, when he suffered the injuries that led to his death twelve days later. If all this sounds confusing, it is. While it's difficult to believe that the crushed-up automobile shown in photographs of the alleged accident is the same one sitting on the museum's floor, it's still harder to believe conspiracy theorists convinced that the so-called accident was a cover-up for a plot by the Office of Strategic Services to kill the man.
Most people agree that whatever the case, this museum is one to put on your itinerary. Though a few people have quibbled about its being "of average caliber'' most come away raving about the place as "fascinating,'' and "awesome,'' and "a must-see.''
To contact the Patton museum:
Telephone: 502-624-3812
Email: knox.museum@conus.army.mil
This belongs with other artifacts in the US.