Patton acted in best interest of humanity

Re “Gen. Patton’s loot,” Opinion, April 4

Yes, Gen. George Patton brought home artistic treasure from post-Nazi occupied Europe. But as Paul Harvey so famously proclaims: “And now, the rest of the story.” The Nazi regime looted countless treasures from European and North African nations, also robbing vanquished people, especially wealthy Jews. While Hitler cowered in his Berlin bunker with the Soviet army racing toward him, Patton and other Allied generals realized that the treasures stolen by the Nazi regime were about to become Russian spoils of war.

Patton was a very wealthy man. He did not need the war booty to bolster his own coffers. The general was also a reputable scholar of history. He secured those treasures he could, those that would be left in the path of the Soviets or the war-ravaged looters combing the rubble of a decimated continent.

Patton placed his loot in reputable museums. It is up to the museums in question to determine the fate of Patton’s rescued treasure. Give due credit to Patton’s actions; don’t discredit him or the uniform that he wore. He was acting in humanity’s best interests and not his own.

Soldiers tend to do that from time to time.

LT. COL. JEFF THIERET

U.S. Air Force, Retired

Harmony, Pa.