Patton Prayer Christmas ornament now available at 6th Cavalry Museum

In keeping with its holiday tradition of offering original Christmas cards featuring the famous WWII Patton Prayer, the 6th Cavalry Museum will also offer a Christmas ornament along with the cards.

Since 2010, the museum has offered a special holiday card featuring the Patton Prayer, Patton’s Christmas greetings to the Third Army and the history of the prayer. The popularity of the unique Christmas card has grown each year and the 2016 card sets will include all of the five previous covers in each set and the ornament.

The museum has as part of its permanent collection one of the original Patton Prayer cards which has the prayer on one side and a Christmas greeting from Gen. George S. Patton on the back. The museum worked with The Print Shop to create the Christmas ornament. The original Patton Prayer card is about the size of a

business card. A couple of different ideas were considered and tried. Each ornament, which is the exact replica of the original Patton Prayer card, was individually laminated then red ribbon was attached at the top to hold the ornament on the tree.

“People have asked if they can get the previous years’ designs so that gave us the idea to offer a combination set for 2016,” explained Chris McKeever, museum executive director. “I heard from one of the veterans we had sent a card to that his wife cut out the prayer and made it into an ornament for their tree. It was such a great idea we decided to copy it.”

Patton’s family supports the museum’s efforts to raise money by offering the card and ornament for sale. The general’s grandson, George Patton Waters, visited the museum in 2010 and encouraged the museum to take the card to press.

“Pat sends the museum a card each year and keeps track of all our events and activities,” she said. “He knows his grandfather held the 6th Cavalry in high esteem and he’s happy that we keep General Patton and his famous prayer for good weather part of the holiday.”

The original “Patton Prayer,” written by Patton’s chief of chaplains Col. (Monsignor) James H. O’Neill, was delivered in December 1944 to the American troops fighting during one of the worst blizzards in European history. One of the 250,000 cards delivered to troops containing the prayer on one side and a Christmas greeting from Patton on the other side is in the museum’s permanent collection.

The Germans had taken advantage of the weather to launch a surprise counterattack (known as the Battle of the Bulge). The 101st Airborne and elements of the 10th Armored held Bastogne and needed to be relieved before they ran out of supplies and were overrun. The Patton Prayer asks that the Lord “restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend.”

The weather unexpectedly cleared, allowing for the resumption of close air-dropped resupply of the besieged units at Bastogne. Patton’s Third Army broke through the German counteroffensive 10 days later, prompting O’Neill to say, “General Patton prayed for fair weather for battle. He got it.”

Cards and ornaments are available at the museum, 6 Barnhardt Circle, in Fort Oglethorpe or may be ordered by phone at 706-861-2860 and delivered by mail. All proceeds from card sales support the operation and programming of the 6th Cavalry Museum.