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There I was, at the front of the line, back to back with SGT Rock and Doc Savage, putting together arms and armor for a mighty battle, when it occurred to me, as the Puzzled Leader of and Chief Cook for this loosely knit band of tramps, humans, humanoids, and various Space Alien species, that I had no pep talk at the ready. No rousing oration to stir the blood. No \u2018we who are about to die\u2019 sort of thing. So I had to put down the sword polish and go and consult with the best pep speechifiers I could find, which took a bit of time, time travel and digging.<\/p>\n
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There is, of course, the internet in addition to the videos available, both of which make the job of cobbling a pep talk together so much easier. But does it answer that question: what stirs the blood?<\/p>\n
We have bits and bobs of Patton\u2019s actual speech, in various videos. This one isn\u2019t too bad:<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g8ULAFxlrvY<\/a><\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Marco D\u2019Aviano\u2019s speech on the hill in \u2018Day of\u00a0 the Siege\u2019, a so-so movie about the Siege of Vienna. The movie itself is crunchingly slow and sometimes silly, but the delivery of speech by F. Murray Abraham as the monk D\u2019Aviano is stirring, with the Polish King Jan Sobieski and his Winged Hussars attacking the Turks at the end of it:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xAKYICdbwA4<\/a><\/p>\n Theoden, King of Rohan and the Riddermark, made a rousing battle speech at the Pelennor Fields outside Minas Tirith:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Ryy5U2mNTJU<\/a><\/p>\n Aragorn made another speech at the Black Gate, just before Sauron (who was afraid of Morgoth, who was afraid of the Balrogs) disintegrated when the One Ring melted.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=17_ImViPryQ<\/a><\/p>\n Crassus wanted to know who Spartacus was. He sorely underestimated the people he faced, misunderstood what it takes to truly lead people, and was assassinated by the Parthians when he also underestimated the desert of the Middle East and the pure skill and will power of the Parthian army.<\/p>\n And in the end, everyone was Spartacus:<\/p>\n