''Patton 360°'', also written as ''Patton 360'', is a weekly television series that originally ran from April 10 to June 26, 2009, on the

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

channel. It was produced by

Flight 33 Productions Flight 33 Productions is an American documentary production company founded in 2006 that specializes in programs about history and science. It produces programs for The History Channel, The Discovery Channel, The National Geographic Channel, 3ne ...

in Los Angeles (the same company that produced ''

Battle 360° ''Battle 360°'', also written as ''Battle 360'', is an American documentary television series that originally aired from February 29 to May 2, 2008 on History. The program focuses on the World War II-era aircraft carrier . The show was produced ...

''), and features a mixture of CGI, archival footage, recreations, and interviews with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veterans and historians. The series follows General

George S. Patton George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...

and the units he commanded, from the

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – Run for Tunis, 16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of secu ...

landings in Morocco in 1942, through the campaigns in North Africa and Sicily, and in the battles across Northwest Europe. The episodes were written by Samuel K. Dolan and Jim Hense, and produced by Rob Beemer, Brian Thompson, Samuel K. Dolan, associate producer Ryan Hurst, and executive producers Louis Tarantino and Douglas Cohen for Flight 33 Productions and Carl Lindahl for the History channel.

Veterans

The producers of Patton 360 interviewed dozens of veterans for the series. Among the veteran contributors were

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipients Walter Ehlers,

John D. Hawk John Druse "Bud" Hawk (May 30, 1924 − November 4, 2013) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions in World War II during the battle of the Falaise ...

and

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) *Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom) *Distinguished Service Cross (U ...

recipients Maj. General Kelley Lemmon, Colonel James Herbert (Jimmie) Leach and Major Abraham Baum. Retired Brigadier General Albin Irzyk and retired Lieutenant General Orwin C. Talbot were also interviewed. The series included interviews from dozens of other veterans, both enlisted soldiers and retired commissioned officers, who served in the many Infantry and Armored Divisions that Patton fought with in North Africa, Sicily and with Third Army in Europe. Among the divisions covered in the series were the 1st Infantry Division, the 4th Armored Division, the 2nd Armored Division, 5th Infantry Division,

90th Infantry Division 90th Division may refer to: ;Infantry * 90th Division (1st Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1949–1950 * 90th Division (2nd Formation)(People's Republic of China), 1950–1952 * 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht) * 90th Infantry Divi ...

, and 95th Infantry Division. Veterans from numerous independent tank battalions, artillery units, and anti-tank battalions were also covered in the program. Two naval veterans, Captain Franklyn Dailey, Jr. () and Arthur Beaumont () were also interviewed. William McBurney appeared in several of the later episodes and recounted his stories as a member of the

761st Tank Battalion The 761st Tank Battalion was a separate tank battalion of the United States Army during World War II. The 761st was made up primarily of African-American soldiers, who by War Department policy were not permitted to serve alongside white troops; ...

. The final episode of the series was dedicated to veteran Fred Cottriel of the 737th Tank Battalion, who died in 2008 only days after conducting an interview with the show's producers.

Notable Commentator

Among the many commentators in the series was Colonel

H. R. McMaster Herbert Raymond McMaster (born July 24, 1962) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general who served as the 25th United States National Security Advisor from 2017 to 2018. He is also known for his roles in the Gulf War, Operation Endurin ...

.refer to series transcript/advisors.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patton 360 History (American TV channel) original programming Documentary television series about World War II 2000s American documentary television series 2009 American television series debuts 2009 American television series endings