Editing Creighton Abrams (section)

===World War II===
During [[World War II]], Abrams served in the [[4th Armored Division (United States)|4th Armored Division]], initially as regimental [[adjutant]] (June 1941 – June 1942), [[battalion]] commander (July 1942 – March 1943), and [[regiment]] executive officer (March–September 1943) with the [[37th Armor Regiment]]. In September 1943, a reorganization of the division redesignated the 37th Armor Regiment to the 37th Tank Battalion, which Abrams commanded. He commanded [[Combat Command]] B of the division during the [[Battle of the Bulge]], and entitled to wear the [[Fourragère|French Fourragère]] as a member of the [[4th Armored Division (United States)|4th Armored Division]].

During this time Abrams was promoted to the temporary ranks of [[Major (United States)|major]] (February 1942), [[Lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] (September 1942), and [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] (April 1945). Abrams was promoted to lieutenant colonel at age 27 years, 11 months.

During much of this time, the 4th Armored Division, led by the 37th Tank Battalion, was the spearhead for General [[George S. Patton]]'s [[United States Army Central|Third Army]]. Abrams was well known as an aggressive armor commander. By using his qualities as a leader and by consistently exploiting the relatively small advantages of speed and reliability of his vehicles, he managed to defeat German forces that had the advantage of superior armor and superior guns. He was twice decorated with the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]] for extraordinary heroism, on 20 September and 26 December 1944. General George Patton said of him: "I'm supposed to be the best tank commander in the Army, but I have one peer—Abe Abrams. He's the world champion."<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836935,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215145244/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,836935,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 15, 2008 |magazine=Time |title=Nation: Pattern's Peer |date=April 14, 1967}}</ref>

Frequently the spearhead of the Third Army during World War II, Abrams was one of the leaders in the relief effort that broke up the [[Wehrmacht|German]] entrenchments surrounding [[Bastogne]] and the [[101st Airborne Division]] during the Battle of the Bulge. In April 1945, he was promoted to temporary [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] but reverted to lieutenant colonel during the post-war demobilization. On April 23, 1945, [[Will Lang Jr.]] wrote a biography of Abrams called "Colonel Abe" for ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]''.