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Patton's Oracle: Gen. Oscar Koch, as I Knew Him
Oscar Koch's sterling performance as Gen. George S. Patton Jr.'s intelligence chief, G-2, was a critical element of Patton's success in World War II and earned Koch the reputation as arguably the most brilliant intelligence officer in U.S. Army history. His collection and analysis of information in early winter 1944 led him to issue stern warnings of the German buildup preceding the Battle of the Bulge and let Patton be prepared, but higher headquarters refused to listen. Today, intelligence specialists cite that work as a model for combat intelligence training. After the war, Koch went on to help overhaul the CIA and, in retirement, earned a coveted Guggenheim Fellowship to support research and writing on intelligence in combat. His unlikely friendship with Robert Hays, a young journalist who also happened to be a veteran of Koch's beloved U.S. Third Army, led to a book that has become a crucial source for military historians. Now, Robert Hays offers a deeply personal account of their relationship, reveals the general's astonishingly gentle and caring nature, and describes Koch's philosophy and concerns about the intriguing field of intelligence. Overarching all is the poignant story of Koch's valiant battle with terminal cancer. The reader will understand why Hays grants Oscar Koch the eminent rank of personal hero and feels an obligation to help assure his place in history.
- GenresHistoryMilitary Fiction
272 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2013
9 people are currently reading
159 people want to read
About the author
Robert Hays
31 books19 followersAbout the Author
Robert Hays has been a newspaper reporter, public relations writer, magazine editor, and university professor and administrator. A native of Illinois, he taught in Texas and Missouri and retired in 2008 from a long journalism teaching career at the University of Illinois. He holds three degrees, including an interdisciplinary Ph.d., from Southern Illinois University and is a U.S. Army veteran. He has spent a great deal of time in South Carolina, the home state of his wife Mary, and has been a member of the South Carolina Writers Workshop. His publications include academic journal and popular periodical articles and nine previous books, including one published in paperback edition under a new title and his collaborative work with Gen. Oscar Koch, G-2: Intelligence for Patton. Robert and Mary live in Champaign, Illinois. They have two sons and a grandson and share (long story!) a cat named Eddie with the family next door.
Robert Hays has been a newspaper reporter, public relations writer, magazine editor, and university professor and administrator. A native of Illinois, he taught in Texas and Missouri and retired in 2008 from a long journalism teaching career at the University of Illinois. He holds three degrees, including an interdisciplinary Ph.d., from Southern Illinois University and is a U.S. Army veteran. He has spent a great deal of time in South Carolina, the home state of his wife Mary, and has been a member of the South Carolina Writers Workshop. His publications include academic journal and popular periodical articles and nine previous books, including one published in paperback edition under a new title and his collaborative work with Gen. Oscar Koch, G-2: Intelligence for Patton. Robert and Mary live in Champaign, Illinois. They have two sons and a grandson and share (long story!) a cat named Eddie with the family next door.
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October 19, 2013
Patton's Oracle.
If you buy this book, as I did, expecting it to be a biography about Oscar Koch you may find yourself disappointed. This is not a Biography in the traditional sense. It doesn't take you back to the childhood of the subject and talk about the influences that made him what he was. Instead the book mostly centers on the brief amount of time that the Author and the subject, Oscar Koch spent working on a book that was about the use of Intelligence in War, using the examples of Koch's life to show how it works at its best.
Oscar Koch was the G2 of Patton's Third Army. Most of who have spent much time have come up against the paradox that comes up when Patton and his staff is mentioned in works where other Generals are the main focus. Comments like Patton could get the most out of a less than capable staff and then a comment about how Patton's G2 was the best in the Army. An attitude that always seemed somewhat contradictory at best. This book shows the work that was put into G2 Intelligence for Patton, and the mutual respect that built up during that short period of time.
While you don't really find out much about Oscar Koch's early life what you do learn is the type of Man he was. This book present a living breathing person and does it by way of comparison with the authors own life. While it is full of interest for anyone that would like to know more about Patton's able G2 and the Man who made it a mission to explain the need and the practice of good Intelligence for the military, it does so without presenting it in the fashion of a bunch of facts stacked up one on another. When you finish this book, if your anything like me, you will have a deep and profound respect for this remarkable individual, not just as an amazing staff officer but as a human being.
It isn't often that I rate anything with the highest rating possible, but this one deserves it and more.
If you buy this book, as I did, expecting it to be a biography about Oscar Koch you may find yourself disappointed. This is not a Biography in the traditional sense. It doesn't take you back to the childhood of the subject and talk about the influences that made him what he was. Instead the book mostly centers on the brief amount of time that the Author and the subject, Oscar Koch spent working on a book that was about the use of Intelligence in War, using the examples of Koch's life to show how it works at its best.
Oscar Koch was the G2 of Patton's Third Army. Most of who have spent much time have come up against the paradox that comes up when Patton and his staff is mentioned in works where other Generals are the main focus. Comments like Patton could get the most out of a less than capable staff and then a comment about how Patton's G2 was the best in the Army. An attitude that always seemed somewhat contradictory at best. This book shows the work that was put into G2 Intelligence for Patton, and the mutual respect that built up during that short period of time.
While you don't really find out much about Oscar Koch's early life what you do learn is the type of Man he was. This book present a living breathing person and does it by way of comparison with the authors own life. While it is full of interest for anyone that would like to know more about Patton's able G2 and the Man who made it a mission to explain the need and the practice of good Intelligence for the military, it does so without presenting it in the fashion of a bunch of facts stacked up one on another. When you finish this book, if your anything like me, you will have a deep and profound respect for this remarkable individual, not just as an amazing staff officer but as a human being.
It isn't often that I rate anything with the highest rating possible, but this one deserves it and more.
Displaying 1 of 1 review