HEADQUARTERS
THIRD UNITED STATES ARMY
Office of the Commanding General
APO 403
April 25 1945
My Dear General Middleton:
Again the exigencies of war have separated the VIII Corps and the Third Army. We are almost
regretful.
None of us will ever forget the stark valor with which you and your Corps contested every foot of
ground during Von Rundtstadt’s attack. Your decision to hold BASTOGNE was a stroke of genius.
Subsequently, the relentless advance of the VIII Corps to the KYLL river, thence to the RHINE, your
capture of KOBLENZ and subsequent assault crossings of the RHINE at its most difficult sector,
resulting in your victorious and rapid advance to the MULDE River, are events which will live in history
and quicken the pulse of every soldier .
Please except for yourself and transmit to the officers and men of your command my sincere thanks and
admiration for the outstanding successes achieved.
May all good fortunate attend you.
Very sincerely,
G. S. PATTON JR.,
Lieutenant General, U.S. army
Commanding
1st Endorsement
HEADQUARTERS VIII CORPS, APO 308, U.S. ARMY, April 27, 1945
To: See distribution
It is with deep appreciation and a sense of humility that I transmit to the officers and to the enlisted men
who have served in the VIII Corps since December 16, 1944 this letter of appreciation from General
Patton.
As we review the picture since Bastogne, we see performance of feats by officers and men of the Corps
which in normal times one would have believed to be impossible of execution. It is however doing the
impossible which marks the leader and returns the winner in war.
My sincere thanks to those members of the Corps now living and my humble reverence to those now
deceased who by devotion to a cause and a duty made this letter of appreciation from our Army
Commander possible.
TROY H. MIDDLETON,
Major General, U.S. Army,
Commanding.
2nd Endorsement
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