<p>
<em>Oliver Beime Patton</em> was born at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, to Milton H. and Anne R Patton. His father was an Army officer who retired as a colonel.</p>
<p>
Young "Ollie," as everyone came to call him, attended Benedictine Military Academy for a year and then spent three years at Baylor Military Academy in Chattanooga, TN, where he graduated. Next came a year at the West Point Preparatory School at Ft. Macpherson, GA, followed by two years at West Virginia University at Morgantown, WV. He played soccer and football at Baylor and West Virginia. Also at West Virginia, he worked with several publications and the class annual. That was prophetic ofhis experience as a cadet.</p>
<p>
In 1941, Ollie received an appointment to West Point from Senator Rush D. Holt ofWest Virginia and, on 1 July of that year, joined his classmates at the Academy.</p>
<p>
A classmate described him as "...the man that could have outtalked Scheherazade. Although he was engaged in a struggle with academics and football for three years, nothing could discourage his endless flow of words—whether happy, bitter, caustic, or friendly—in conversation, <em>Pointer</em>, and classroom. Beneath his slightly globular physique there is a sense of fairness that will make him an excellent officer." In his Yearling year, he shot the Academy high score with the M-1 rifle. He was on the <em>Pointer</em> staff for three years, ending up as associate editor and working on the <em>Howitzer</em> and the 100th Nite Show.</p>
<p>
On 6 Jun 1944, 2LT Patton pinned on the gold bars of an Infantry officer and, after graduation leave, embarked on his military career. As he later put it: "After Basic at Benning, joined 106th InfDiv and hurried off to the Bulge in Germany. Short company grade war, after which was attached to the Wehrmacht for rations and quarters for the duration." He was describing the time when the 106th Division was overrun by the Wehrmacht in December 1944, and he was severely wounded and captured as a litter patient.</p>
<p>
After returning to the States, he married Anne Connors in 1946, then returned to Germany for a three-year tour in the Counter Intelligence Corps. His next assignment was with the 3rd Infantry Division at Ft. Benning, pending attendance at the Infantry Officers Advanced Course; however, according to him, "Education delayed by visit to Korea. Quaint old-fashioned war at Div Hqtrs..."</p>
<p>
In 1951, he returned to Benning and spent a year at the University of Pennsylvania, earning a master of arts degree. Then came a three-year tour as an English instructor at West Point, followed by a year at CGSC. A three-year tour in Germany included duty on the intelligence staff of Headquarters, U.S. Army, Europe and service in the 4th Armored Division. Then to the Pentagon for a three-year assignment to the deputy chief of staff for personnel. Attendance at the Army War College followed.</p>
<p>
Another tour at the Pentagon called but this time he was on the Joint Chiefs ofStaff. In 1968, he went to Ft. Campbell, KY, to activate and command a brigade in the 6th Infantry Division and, in 1968, went to VietNam for a two-year tour as G-2 of XXTV Corps.</p>
<p>
In 1970, he was promoted to brigadier general and went to Iran for two years as chief of the army section of the Military Assistance and Advisory Group.</p>
<p>
He returned, again, to the Pentagon for two years as the deputy assistant chief of staff for intelligence, including three months as the acting assistant chief.</p>
<p>
In 1974 Ollie retired, having earned the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit twice, two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, the Air Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, and the Joint Services Commendation Medal.</p>
<p>
Upon retiring, he became the executive secretary of the United States Capitol Historical Society in Washington and took up writing fiction. In 1976, he published the first of five novels, a historical Western titled <em>The Hollow Mountains.</em> The theme of that story—a soldier takes on the Indians and the Army bureaucracy and wins the heart of a girl—is repeated in three subsequent Westerns: <em>Western Wind, The Mojave Design,</em> and <em>My Heart Turns Back.</em></p>
<p>
The books amounted to more than a million paperbacks in print but, as Ollie put it, "not that many sold." His last novel, T<em>he Silent Snow,</em> was a story about the Battle of the Bulge from a foot-soldier’s point of view. His experience in that battle, and historical perspective on those events, attracted the attention of producers for the television program <em>American Experience.</em> They enlisted him to provide commentary for the documentary, <em>Battle of the Bulge,</em> which aired on PBS.</p>
<p>
Ollie and Anne stayed in Chevy Chase, MD, for more than 20 years after his retirement. Those years revolved around their five children (daughters Shelby Whitney of Brunswick, ME; Anya Ward of Wilmington DE; Ellen Crystle of Lancaster, PA; Sarah Mondale of Chevy Chase, MD; and son Oliver of Alexandria, VA) and nine grandchildren (one more on the way).</p>
<p>
Also filling time were boating adventures on the Caribbean and trips to France with classmates, studying Shakespeare at Oxford, Anne working at Nieman Marcus and building a reputation as "a demon tennis player."</p>
<p>
In 2001 they made their 24th move, joining a close group of classmates at The Fairfax, a military retirement community in Ft. Belvoir, VA.</p>
<p>
<em>Oliver Patton and Willie Burr</em></p>