General Patton's Personal Jeep Driver Remembers the Legendary Man | Francis 'Jeep' Sanza

Francis "Jeep" Sanza was drafted into the U.S. Army in the spring of 1941. Due to his mechanical prowess the army put him into the 3457th Ordnance Medium Auto Maintenance Company, where he began driving the tough new Willys MB 1/4-ton reconnaissance vehicles, later to be simply called the "Jeep".

Sanza was eventually chosen to be the personal driver and mechanic for General George S. Patton, one of the most important and revered generals of the Second World War.

Sanza's unique position gave him a window into the mind of one of the greatest strategists in modern military history, as he drove Patton across France and into Germany.

Francis "Jeep" Sanza passed away peacefully on January 30, 2018

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[wayneantoniazzi]

Just a word to everyone, and especially the carping critics who won't be able to restrain themselves from correcting what this old veteran has to say, especially concerning dates and events.
When an old-timer like this who's witnessed and taken part in events that most of us can only dream of speaks, the respectful thing to do is keep your mouths tightly shut and let him speak.
Remember, he FOUGHT in WW2, he didn't "major" in it!
When one of those men is in the room nobody cares what YOU know, they only care what HE knows, even if he's off here and there.
Sadly, we're losing these men at an ever-increasing rate. Appreciate them for who they are, where they've been and what they've done. They saved us all, even if they didn't realize it at the time.
By the way, did you notice he dressed-up for the interview? That's one classy guy!

[jimh]

My uncle was stationed in North Africa before Patton arrived, he had already written his will and decided he wouldn't survive the war. When Patton came he began to see that he might actually have a chance, and indeed he did.

[eddiea]

My Dad just passed away in August. He served under Patton. I am so very proud of him, always have been. These men saved the world.

[charlesmartel]

My uncle was in the Third Army and worshipped Patton. He said he saw the General at the front more often than he saw his immediate superior.

[kathyziegler]

My dad also was a driver for Patton. He died in 1999. Lots of stories I wish I would've listened more.

[arcanoflowz]

I remember reading about Patton talking about his Jeep driver as being the best driver he’d ever seen, awesome getting to see him finally

[jamesmack]

George C Scott definitely deserved the Oscar for his portrayal of Patton in the movie....he nailed it.

[jasonmaddox]

There’s maybe a handful of these Vets left, the greatest generation, such an honor to listen to him speak !

[brettg]

My grandfather was a POW in Germany after crashing his P-51. He was liberated several months later by General Patton, and he sat on Patton’s jeep, while the General gave a speech after liberating the camp. One of the other men on the jeep handed out rations, and gave one to my grandfather, could have been this gentleman. Two things he noted: 1) Gen. Patton had a much higher register voice than he anticipated, 2) had he kept that ration it would have really been worth something, but he was far too hungry and just scarfed it down.

[Brooksie]

Wow, the fact that Patton himself would wake up his driver is amazing.

[tonylittle]

I had a civics teacher who was a young intelligence officer under Patton. This interview is consistent with the stories from my HS teacher. This driver was enlisted, but Patton was strict with his junior officers. One story that my teacher shared was about fighting positions. On a visit to the front Patton asked the junior officers where their fighting positions were? He proceeded to urinate in them. He didn’t want his young officers hiding in a fighting position unless all their enlisted men were afforded the same opportunity. A small taste of why his men loved him. At the end of the day, we need men like Patton, at every level like never before.

[bobkrohn]

My Dad was in 3rd Army.
Every Sunday my Dad and I drove a route that passed by a street called Patton Rd.
He always saluted that sign.

[dfirth]

Patton's family was given a private screening when the movie "Patton" came out in 1970. The family had refused movie offers for years because he was so controversial. But at the end of watching this movie they jumped up and said, "YES, That's him!" I worked with a guy in the 1970s who had been one of Patton's "Tankers" in WWII. I asked him if he was like the movie portrayed and he said yes. They all liked him.

[internetstrangerstrangerofweb]

My great grandfather was a combat engineer. Dday, built bridges over the Meuse and Rhine rivers. Patton personally handed him a silver star in 44. My grandfather told some great stories from him!

[stevebuffinton]

I'm a vet. There's a General Patton museum in a place called Chiriaco Summit in California on Hwy 10 going towards Arizona which is located right next to a gas station that my wife and I used to stop at when we'd travel back and forth to Phoenix from my duty station Vandenberg AFB in California. My wife never wanted to visit it when we'd stop. I took a solo trip once and ended up there about an hour before the museum opened and I thought to myself "man, am I ever going to see this museum?". That's when I seen a car pull up, it was the man who ran the museum. I was walking around the tanks located outside when he approached me and when I told him my story he said "well hell, cmon in" . He gave me a personal tour, showed me around the back where things were that weren't on display and even opened up the tanks so I could go Inside them, a true treat. It was great. Should you ever be on that road stop and pay it a visit, show them some love. They went above and beyond to make this vets day that day.

[johnlansing]

I had the great fortune to talk with a WW2 veteran ……. I asked which branch he was in . He looked me in the eye, grew a foot in height and said “ I was in Patton’s army ! “ then he called General Patton every name he could . I asked why he stayed in that unit . “ Because wherever you were the General was always ahead of the troops . That man talked as if Patton was the greatest man ever .

[JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

My dad had several encounters with general Patton both during and before the war. An example of him leading from the front would be an instance where my dad's company was waiting on the side of the road to advance into a "German occupied" village. When suddenly there appears coming from that same village a gloss Olive painted m4 Sherman with general Patton in the turret. He asked my dad why in the hell they were sitting on the side of the road? And my dad gave him a salute in his dirty tanker uniform, is heavy beard showing and replied sir there's Germans in that village and we're waiting for orders from command to advance. The general uttered a few expletives that there were no Germans in that village he just came from there. He ordered my Dad's unit to fire up their damn tanks and get down the road! Then he went hunting for the company Commander to chew his ass! True story

My dad was very proud to have met the general, while he never actually said he loved the general I know in his heart he would have followed him in to hell. They would have probably won too! Even though my dad was in the Army until 1966, he identified with his time in 6th Armored Division, 3rd Army.

[rossfelton]

My uncle was a flame thrower soldier in General Patton's 3rd army. He was one of the guys who destroyed the pill boxes, gun inplacements, and machine gun nests. My uncle was highly decorated. He loved General Patton. He said Patton fought beside his men, often in the front leading his men. Not radioing in orders to his men from some comfy country club command center far away from any danger. He also said if Patton was eating steak so were his men.

[katestrause]

I am lucky enough to work directly for Gen. Patton's grandson, Mr. Robert Patton in Southbridge, Ma. Being a Veteran myself, I cannot express the sense of pride this gives me 😊❤

[DemitriVladMaximov]

This man is amazing, and the best 17 minutes I spent this week was listening to him.