The superlative "greatest" is often applied to commanders, battles and countless aspects of military history -too often, it seems. One can hardly read an account about a battle or leader without finding the word "greatest" in it somewhere. In this issue of Armchair General, however, we strive to put the "great" back in "greatest." The Korean War accomplishments of General Matthew B. Ridgway, the subject of our Battlefield Leader feature article, were described by General Omar N. Bradley as "the greatest feat of personal leadership in the history of the Army." Given Ridgway's remarkable achievement - miraculously transforming the beaten, retreating U.S. 8th Army into a revitalized fighting force - Bradley's "greatest" description seems right on target. The U.S. Army's World War II chief of staff, General George C. Marshall, used "greatest" to describe the achievements of U.S. 4th Armored Division - aka "Patton's Best." Marshall called the dramatic "race across France" that the 4th spearheaded in the summer of 1944 "one of the greatest feats of American arms." Our current You Command interactive article challenges YOU to lead a combat command of the 4th as it battles German forces in a key September 1944 attack.
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