European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 8, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                C Al r Story Geierm Iype Mug from the cover the leather boots were made by Patton s bookmaker in London. Everything rings with True authenticity. Even the wearers language As he tells the audience his formula for eliminating Battlefield Casula tics. A goddamn it done to be one of  Richard Pierce a Patton Impersonator is the Man of the hour and for the next 60 minutes sch he a old blood n guts himself. That Means plenty of four letter words. He uses them liberally to season his pc Eek. After All Pieree says a you can t have Patton be Patton and not have any  Pierce s appearance is not just for after dinner belly laughs. His Mission is serious. Pierce a lieutenant colonel in the California state military Reserve Heads history recreated a one Man company that uses famous characters to deliver inspirational talks. On this occasion. Pierce stands in the ballroom of the Patton hotel in Garmisch Germany to close the annual morale welfare and recreation conference. The Challenge before the group of executives is Clear How will mar programs survive with record troop draw Downs imminent Pierce has done his Homework. He has tailored his remarks to the group s business concerns. He also knows that the hotel named in Patton s Honor was a Farmer Barracks for the edelweiss division of the is. Against the backdrop of a Wall size american hag Pierce scowls at the men and women. Quot americans love winners and will not tolerate losers Quot he barks his head tilted arrogantly High. Quot we have never lost in the past and by god we have no intention of doing so in the  Pierce s Pep talk is patterned after Patton s famous speech to the third army on june 5, 1944, the eve of the Allied invasion of France. Pierces a Gen. George Patton buttons up in his jeep before heading Back to 3rd army Headquarters in 1945. Strategy is ingenious. He has taken Patton s Basic military principles of winning the Battle and applied them to business. A each mar facility is a team and each team Surv Vesas a team a he growls. A this individual hero stuff is a lot of crap. The bastards who wrote that stuff about individuality was stars and stripes and they done to know any More about your business than they know about  he lets the laughter die Down before adding Quot now if any of you done to know what fornication Means you Don t know what Congress has recently done to your  Pierce a 54-year-old los Angeles native is no actor but he knows the Patton Persona Well. It has developed into an obsession he admits. At Home he has replicas of Patton a jeep and command car. His personal Library contains 4,001 volumes of military history. About 300 of those books arc about Patton. Among the Memorabilia arc stacks of Patton s personal correspondence. A i get up there and there Are actually times when j lose track of who i am and i really believe i am him a Pierce says. So do others. A i did a reunion for the 87th infantry one year Quot Pierce recalls. A they fought with Patton in Czechoslovakia. I just stood up there for two hours and answered questions. They were firmly convinced i was him. I still get letters from them beginning dear  a in his travels people often come Forward with personal Patton stories. Quot in be had six Here already Quot Pierce says. A the hotel manager who met both the son George Iii and father has been telling me things. Last night one Guy at this convention told me about How he stole a jeep once and Patton got him off 1 keep adding those things to my  Pierce also comes across convincingly As Winston Churchill Teddy Roosevelt and Ulysses s. Grant but its his Patton imitation that is the most popular. A there Are probably 10 other Guys who do Patton that i compete with a he says. A the difference Between me and them is they re actors. I like to think that Given my military background 1 know what in a talking about. I also have an Edge by being in business and sales. When i talk Token. Patton and his warring world a George Smith Patton or. Was born nov. 11, 1885, in the san Gabriel Valley near Pasadena Calif. His parents were wealthy ranch owners. A graduated from West Point in 1909. A served in Mexico in 1916 As an aide to Gen. John i. Pershing on an unsuccessful expedition to capture Pancho Villa. A served in France in 1917 on Pershing s staff during world War i and later As an officer assigned to bring the embryo tank corps into combat condition. A wounded in 1918 while leading a charge against the German lines. A discharged from the Hospital at the same time the armistice was signed on his birthday in 1918. In peace time reverted from colonel to Captain then major. Two decades of unexciting service followed. A singled out in 1940 to command a brigade of the newly formed 2nd army div in a Controvert s4s fond town Richard Pierce a i get up there and there Are actually times when i lose track of who i am and i really believe 1 am  salesmen i know what in a talking  Pieree is a 25-year military Veteran who served in the Berlin constabulary in 1956. As a private first class he guarded nazi architect Albert Speer in Spandau prison. He later served in the 3rd Ini regt As a guard at the Tomb of the unknown Soldier in Washington. I was thin then he says letting a rare smile betray his Gruff exterior. As Patton Pierce swears in the mar officials commissioning each As a colonel. He makes them continued on Page 5 Sial modernized army. A picked to command land forces for operation Torch the . Invasion in North Africa in 1942. Secured surrender of French troops in Morocco. A appointed to command ii corps in Tunisia in 1943. Successfully held off counterattack by a German divisions 50 tanks on March 23,1943. A on april 14,1943, promoted to command the 7th army and plan for the invasion of Sicily. A in january 1944, Given command of the 3rd army for operations in Europe. Spent first half of year building up 3rd army in England. ,. A sent to France on july 6, 1944. On aug. I advanced into Brittany to secure ports of St. Malo and Brest and took rest of Peninsula. A in december 1944. Led Rush to counter Hitler s offensive in the Battle of the bulge. A in March 1945, fought a 100-mile from to Cross the Rhine without Benefit of air support or artillery. The 3rd army continued its March across Southern Germany seeking permission to enter Prague when the War ended on May 9. A died Dee. 21. 1945, at the army Hospital in Heidelberg. Germany from injuries sustained 12 Days earlier w Hen his jeep collided with an army truck in Mannheim. Randy Pruitt Page 4 a sunday december 8. 1991