By Carl H. Larsen

The heat of battle was tested at Chiraco Summit in Southern California's Mojave Desert, and now the sands of time have erased most traces of what was once the world's largest military training center.

In the first months of World War II a brash major general, George S. Patton Jr., selected a broad swath of the desert for the Army's Desert Training Center, an area that became the largest military training ground in the world. It was a dark time in the nation's history. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor a few months earlier and, in Europe, Hitler had taken over much of the continent and now was intent on seizing North Africa. Patton, a pilot, had crisscrossed the California desert to search for terrain to train airmen, tank units and combat troops to do battle with German tank divisions led by Nazi Gen. Erwin Rommel. He picked 18,000 square miles stretching into Arizona and southern Nevada that troops quickly came to call "the land that God forgot."

Created in 1988, the General Patton Memorial Museum tells the story of the desert center. Run by a foundation, the museum is near the site of Patton's headquarters, Camp Young. It was established by the family of Joe Chiraco, an Italian immigrant who operated a store and gas station here in the 1930s and who helped the general scout the desert for the new base. Getting to the museum is an easy freeway ride on Interstate 10 from the attractions and resorts of nearby Palm Springs, but visitors need to be sure they're equipped for desert travel.

"We can't train troops to fight in the desert of North Africa by training in the swamps of Georgia," Patton wrote. "Without training, the desert can kill faster than the enemy."

The troops were required to run a mile in 10 minutes while carrying rifles and full packs in the desert heat. At night they slept in tents. A daily ration of water amounted to a gallon per person, while salt tablets were staples in a diet of field rations. Patton, who could have chosen to live in the relative comfort of nearby Indio, stayed on the base with the troops. While here, Patton called on experts to advise him on the desert environment. These included Roy Chapman Andrews, who explored the Gobi Desert, and Sir Hubert Wilkins, an Australian authority on tropical clothing.

The soldiers choked on sand, made worse by the clouds of dust raised by tank operations. They solved one problem by pouring diesel fuel on the ground around mess and living quarters to keep rattlesnakes, tarantulas and scorpions at bay.

Letters from the troops to loved ones help tell the story.

"A medium tank ran over one of the fellows and killed him while he was asleep," wrote one soldier. "A person's life is at stake every minute there. We're training under real fire. It's is just like being in actual battle."

In a little over two years, 1 million servicemen and women passed through the training center to train in 11 isolated camps placed amid the hostile desert landscape. In 1944, the sprawling operation was closed because of shifting war tactics and difficulties keeping the base supplied. Patton, who set up the operation, commanded the camps for only four months. In August 1942, he left to lead Operation Torch, the allied assault of North Africa, going against Rommel.

Today there is little left in the desert that recalls the vast operation. Some concrete slabs, tank tracks and old garbage dumps are about all that remain.

The small museum houses an interesting and eclectic collection that covers the period from World War I though the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Many of the items were donated by veterans or their families. A 26-minute documentary examines Patton's military career, including his volatile temper and the famous incident in which he slapped a battle-fatigued soldier at a military hospital. He was forced to apologize for that episode. There's a replica of the general's famous ivory-handled revolver, saddles and cavalry gear as well as Nazi swords and guns. Two rooms offer exhibits on the Holocaust and on the Medal of Honor.

There's also a collection of items collected from the desert, including lost dog tags, tubes of Ipana toothpaste and sunglasses, hinting at the city-sized population that once lived here.

In a bit of an irony, one exhibit honors the "soldier's cartoonist," Bill Mauldin, whose characters the unshaven grunts Willie and Joe famously raised Patton's ire during World War II. These were not the starched and smart soldiers that Patton insisted upon.

One of the most poignant exhibits is a photo of Patton's dog, Willie, shown sitting forlornly near Patton's footlocker and other personal possessions. They were bound for shipment back to the United States after Patton died in an auto accident in December 1945.

Cartoonist Mauldin recalled meeting Patton and the bull terrier, named for William the Conqueror, a few months earlier.

"Beside him, lying in a big chair, was Willie. If ever a dog was suited to master, this one was. Willie had his beloved boss's expression and lacked only the ribbons and stars. I stood in that door staring into the four meanest eyes I'd ever seen."

There are many hidden gems in the collection, such as a letter written by Patton to an airways control officer at the Blythe, Calif., airport after he failed to file a flight plan: "I sincerely trust you will accept my apology for the unbecoming conduct and harsh language on my part when you ... pulled my pilot's license and grounded me at Blythe this year."

One exhibit shows a letter written by Patton to members of the 761st tank battalion, an all-black unit:

"You're the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the U.S. Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing but the best in my Army."

About 300,000 visitors yearly stop at the museum and the exhibition of battle tanks just outside, which includes a World War II-era Sherman tank, the type used by Patton's troops; an amphibious troop carrier; and modern-day Patton tanks.

"Patton was the right person at the right time to do the job we needed done," said visitor Karen Smith Takizawa from Japan. "I found the exhibits very touching — full of heart, full of little collections people had donated to the museum for visitors to see." WHEN YOU GO

The General Patton Memorial Museum is located about 50 miles east of Palm Springs, Calif., at Exit 173 (Chiraco Summit) on Interstate 10. The museum is open daily 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. except Thanksgiving and Christmas. For more information visit www.generalpattonmuseum.com.

The General Patton Memorial Museum near Palm Springs, Calif., captures a period when the Mojave Desert was home to thousands of troops training for combat in Africa. Photo courtesy of Sharon Whitley Larsen.

Exhibits at the General Patton Memorial Museum in Southern California include many items donated by veterans and their families. Photo courtesy of Sharon Whitley Larsen.

Carl H. Larsen is a freelance travel writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.