“I don’t know how to express it,” he said, and it was plain to see that he was having difficulty putting his admiration into words. “I think the United States should be just as proud of these people who gave their lives,” he began, and paused, groping for a sufficiently glorious phrase, but it would not come. He finished the sentence lamely, “Gave their lives in the most wonderful work in our history.” He tried again. “I mean that when it comes to bravery, there isn’t anybody in the world that can beat us,” he said. “I don’t think the United States has an episode in its history that can touch what’s been done here.”
―
Richard Tregaskis,
Guadalcanal Diary
