Bryan > Bryan's Quotes

“Against the certainties of the American command, the truth never stood a chance.”
― Mark Bowden, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

“On the same convoy were two marine “snuffies,” or combat correspondents, Steve Berntson and Dale Dye. Both were marine sergeants with unusual jobs. They were “military journalists,” or, rather, public relations reporters in the field charged with writing stories about their fellow marines. They were assigned to the Information Services Office (ISO) and covered the war the same way as civilian journalists but with a mandate to stress the positive. They had a license to go anywhere and do anything that could be turned into a story, so they were far more widely traveled than most marines, and they had a great deal more independence.”
― Mark Bowden, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

“The snuffies’ stories were regularly handed out to civilian correspondents, who sometimes reshaped them and put them on the wire, which meant they sometimes showed up in little newspapers throughout the United States. Mention a marine’s hometown—something Berntson was always careful to do—and there was a good chance it would end up in his local paper. There were usually no bylines on these stories, but the marines remembered who wrote them. Berntson would be hailed by a grunt in the bush who said, in so many words: Hey, Storyteller, you lying sack of shit. You know all that bullshit you wrote about me? You know what? My mom clipped it and sent it to me! They think I’m a hero at home now and maybe they’ll buy me a beer when I get back! That felt better than a byline. Commanders heading off on a hairy patrol would say, “Get Storyteller. We’re going out on a romp.”
― Mark Bowden, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

“The marching men woke up fast when they heard sniper fire from a line of woods ahead. The point man for one of the platoons was shot in the head and killed instantly. The sniper killed two more men before he was seen to leap from a foxhole and run away. He moved too fast for anyone to get a bead on him.27 As they pressed forward the volume of fire increased. To Wallace it sounded like bees buzzing around him. He started to swat at them, and then noticed that all of his buddies were flat in the mud. He hit the deck.”
― Mark Bowden, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

“Some South Vietnamese are complaining about the damage to their buildings,” army lieutenant colonel Howard Moon told Roberts back at the compound, “but I have no sympathy—not after I’ve seen what happened to the marines. There have been times when the wounded and the dying have been coming in here every two or three minutes. The marines don’t know how to quit. If you can save a marine by destroying a house to get at Charlie, then I say destroy the house.”44”
― Mark Bowden, Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

“People live”
― Lee Child, Tripwire