J. Furman Daniel III - Patton: Battling with History

OVER THE PAST decade, many of my friends and colleagues have given me the heartfelt advice that writing is a lonely endeavor. I have not found this to be the case. On the contrary, this work would have been impossible without many generous people who were dedicated to my success and supported my efforts.

The entire team at the University of Missouri Press, especially Mary S. Conley, Andrew J. Davidson, Gary Kass, Drew Griffith, and series editor John C. McManus, have made extraordinary efforts to improve my writing, encourage me, and shepherd this book to production. Without their patience and dedication, this book would not have been possible.

Special thanks are in order for Amanda Morgan and the staff at the General George Patton Museum of Leadership at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Despite my procrastination, they went above and beyond to help me obtain many of the photos that brought this book to life.

I have been extremely blessed by my colleagues at George Washington University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University: Doug Evans, Thomas Field, Tom Foley, Tyrone Groh, Geoff Jensen, Phil Jones, Reg Parker, Brooke Shannon, Joanna Spear, and Lisa Stephenson. Each of them has made coming to work an intellectual challenge and true pleasure.

In addition to these colleagues, two other members of the Embry-Riddle community deserve special attention. Leanne Harworth filled dozens of interlibrary loan requests with an uncommon speed and joy, and Dale Perez provided edits and corrections with a much-needed sense of humor.

I am also blessed by my friends and mentors who helped me with the project and at times distracted me from it: Joe Collins, Elliott Fullmer, GatorGreenwill, Paul Musgrave, Jay Parker, Richard Rodriguez, and countless others have made my life richer and more enjoyable.

Special thanks are due to Brian A. Smith. In addition to being one of my best friends, he is my best critic. Thanks for being the older brother I never had.

Most important, I want to thank the three women to whom this book is dedicated. My grandmother Anna Scott Hook was a brilliant lady and a true trailblazer. She earned two masters degrees in an era where educated females were not appreciated. She had the strength to serve as a ministers wife for parts of six decades and chose to teach in underprivileged and segregated schools because it was the right thing to do. She had a gift for history, and in 1991 she unknowingly put me on the path to where I am today by talking to me about Jackie Fisher.

My mother, Mary Hook Berry, is a similarly brilliant lady. She possesses a creativity and passion for education that I can only hope to emulate. She taught me kindness, faith, and pride in a job well done. While she often wondered about why her boy wanted to study conflict, she loved me for who I was. Even as a grown man, I look to her for inspiration.

Finally, my wife, Christina Capacci-Daniel, is my best friend and intellectual foil. We met on my first day of grad school while she was earning her doctorate in organic chemistry. She has loved, supported, and encouraged me from day one. She has helped me through difficult times of intellectual, financial, and personal hardship and has made every day a true blessing. She truly is my raison dtre.