BLOOMFIELD — The granddaughter of a legendary general, George S. Patton, visited the Stars and Stripes Museum on Friday. Helen Ayer-Patton toured the museum with Curator Laura Dumey. Ayer-Patton brought with her general Patton’s foot locker and one of his riding crops.
She met with the public Friday afternoon as well as signed biographical books on her grandfather and signed photos of General Patton.
Ayer-Patton spoke about the museum after her tour.
“I find it really truly pulls you in immediately form the helicopter and the way that is set up,” she said. “My impression is that it is every dear, it’s precious. It truly is a precious jewel of an archive.”
“In coming here I know there is this desire to expand and the ability to tell more,” Ayer-Patton continued. “And that is important but I also wanted to reverence what it is already. I think that both can be possible.”
She said her grandfather’s aide made sure the the footlocker and its contents were shipped safely back to the United States following General Patton’s death in Europe shorty after World War II. The line of ownership for the trunk then went unknown for many years.
Ayer-Patton said the locker was missing for several years before turning up on the antique market after World War II. The individual who owned the footlocker after it was returned to the United States had died and the heirs placed it up for auction. Ayer-Patton did not disclose who the owner was.
Ayer-Patton said she did not originally plan to bring her grandfather’s footlocker with her on her visit. But it became part of the road trip to return the footlocker to its owner.
Ayer-Patton said she bid on the foot locker but the amount someone was willing to pay was far beyond what Ayer-Patton imagined.
“That means someone understood the great significance of it,” she said. “They intended it to be used for good and allowed me to have it for a few months.”
On display along with the foot locker was the famous photo of General Patton’s dog, Willy, laying in front of the truck after Patton’s death.
Ayer-Patton intended to use the foot locker for fundraising for charities and to raise awareness for veterans needs. However her mother fell ill and a lot of the intended fundraising was unable to take place.
“I decided that since my time was up and I needed to get it back to him, I would use it for an awareness building trip,” said Ayer-Patton. “I thought a no brainer would be to build awareness toward preventing veterans suicide.”
Since her grandfather had a service dog, she allows veterans with service dogs to take photos with the foot locker. She also said any veteran could take a photo with the foot locker.
Ayer-Patton also had with her one of the 20 riding crops owned by her grandfather. She said it was discovered the crop she had with her may have been made by Hermes.
During her tour of the museum Ayer-Patton also spoke with Dumey about the Stars and Stripes newspaper that was founded in Bloomfield during the Civil War. The newspaper is still distributed to military personnel to this day.
“I am happy about being here,” said Ayer-Patton. “I don’t think it is too much of an exaggeration to say that perhaps the Stars and Stripes (the military newspaper) should be a living, moving, progressive document that deserves a place next to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. It sounds lofty to put it that way but we may not have much to hold onto if we are not careful.”