Marines Quotes

“The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.”
― Ronald Reagan

“...It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to his superiors, and a self confidence born of demonstrated ability.”
― George S. Patton Jr.

“The Japanese fought to win - it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether we liked it or not. In the post-war years, the U.S. Marine Corps came in for a great deal of undeserved criticism in my opinion, from well-meaning persons who did not comprehend the magnitude of stress and horror that combat can be. The technology that developed the rifle barrel, the machine gun and high explosive shells has turned war into prolonged, subhuman slaughter. Men must be trained realistically if they are to survive it without breaking, mentally and physically.”
― E.B. Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

“If I charge, follow me. If I retreat, kill me. If I die, revenge me.”
― USMC

“America's finest - our men and women in uniform, are a force for good throughout the world, and that is nothing to apologize for.”
― Sarah Palin

“In the simple moral maxim the Marine Corps teaches

— do the right thing, for the right reason

— no exception exists that says: unless there's criticism or risk. Damn the consequences.”
― Josh Rushing, Mission Al-Jazeera: Build a Bridge, Seek the Truth, Change the World

“Your soul may belong to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the marines.”
― Eugene B. Sledge, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

“As a civilian, I know nothing about combat, the Marine Corps experience or modern man's struggle adjusting to peace after war. I only know what's been shared with me; confidences I would never betray, nor use as details in a novel.”
― Tiffany Madison

“Hardness," I was learning, was the supreme virtue among recon Marines. The greatest compliment one could pay to another was to say he was hard. Hardness wasn't toughness, nor was it courage, although both were part of it. Hardness was the ability to face an overwhelming situation with aplomb, smile calmly at it, and then triumph through sheer professional pride.”
― Nathaniel Fick

“Your job is to be the hardest motherfucker in your platoon," he said while pointing at me across the desk. "Do that, and everything else will fall into place."
He added that I was assigned to Bravo Company, call sign Hitman, and wished me luck.”
― Nathaniel Fick

“A quick check on the platoon showed everyone more or less enjoying the flight.
"Whatever it is you're eating, Ressk, swallow it before we land," [said Staff Sergeant Kerr].
"No problem, Staff."
"More like whoever he's eating," Binti muttered beside him.
"You ought to count your fingers," he suggested. "You're too serley stupid to notice one missing."
"Maybe you ought to gren sa talamec to."
"That's enough, people."
When the Confederation first started integrating the di'Taykan and the Krai into what was predominantly a human military system, xenopsychologists among the elder races expected a number of problems. For the most part, those expectations fell short. After having dealt with the Mictok and the H'san, none of the younger races - all bipedal mammals - had any difficulty with each other's appearance. Cultural differences were absorbed into the prevailing military culture and the remaining problems were dealt with in the age-old military tradition of learning to say "up yours" in the other races' languages. The "us against them" mentality of war made for strange bedfellows.”
― Tanya Huff, Valor's Choice

“Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum.”
― Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, Baa Baa Black Sheep

“This country has not seen and probably will never know the true level of sacrifice of our veterans. As a civilian I owe an unpayable debt to all our military. Going forward let’s not send our servicemen and women off to war or conflict zones unless it is overwhelmingly justifiable and on moral high ground. The men of WWII were the greatest generation, perhaps Korea the forgotten, Vietnam the trampled, Cold War unsung and Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan vets underestimated. Every generation has proved itself to be worthy to stand up to the precedent of the greatest generation. Going back to the Revolution American soldiers have been the best in the world. Let’s all take a remembrance for all veterans who served or are serving, peace time or wartime and gone or still with us. 11/11/16 May God Bless America and All Veterans.”
― Thomas M Smith

“We had it drilled into us time and time again: 'If someone above you falls, grip tightly to the vertical rope and cradle that person in your arms until help can get to you.'...If someone fell down on me I swear I would have bitten him on the ass and would keep on biting until he got off onhis own.”
― C.S. Crawford, The Four Deuces: A Korean War Story

“Poor boys are easier than middle-class or rich ones. Boys who've been busted are easier than boys who have not. Southern boys are easier than Northern boys. Marines are easier than Masturbation.”
― John Valentine, Puppies

“There was nothing green left; artillery had denuded and scarred every inch of ground. Tiny flares glowed and disappeared. Shrapnel burst with bluish white puffs. Jets of flamethrowers flickered and here and there new explosions stirred up the rubble.
While I watched, an American observation plane droned over the Japanese lines, spotting targets for the U.S. warships lying offshore. Suddenly the little plane was hit by flak and disintegrated. The carnage below continued without pause.
Here I was safe, but tomorrow I would be there. In that instant I realized that the worst thing that could happen to me was about to happen to me.”
― William Manchester

“There are no heroes
Only those that accomplish incredible feats
Under incredible amounts of pressure”
― Brendan Bigney, War What Comes After

“Welcome to the real Marine Corps, a bunch of nerds on computers all day. We only go to the gym so the grunts don't eat us.”
― Jess Mastorakos, A Match for the Marine

“Bite the dog too often
And you will tear it apart
Before it even has the chance to rise
Yet be too kind
And it will forget that it was bred for war
It will die in the killing fields
Everything you do must be with purpose and reason
All decisions must be made without emotion
With respect to the mission
And the currency of lives”
― Brendan Bigney, War What Comes After

“Those of us who have never been in the military don’t understand what it is like to serve in the military.”
― Gina Barreca

“The only detail I knew about my dad’s experience in World War II was that he liked when they served chicken-fried steak.

I was probably 13 when he told that story, and with the unblinking sanctimony that only a teenager can wield, I remember saying, “Wasn’t that really unhealthy?” In a look that I can only describe as for-a-smart-kid-you’re-remarkably-stupid, my father replied, “We were in planes carrying bombs, and enemy planes were shooting at us. Fried food was not a problem.”
― Gina Barreca

“We were the marines the other Marines avoided. The pariahs, the bad-luck charms. The ones no one wanted to risk being near. As if we didn't just process death. As if we brought it.”
― Barbara Nickless, Ambush

“Marines don't cry.”
― Barbara Nickless, Ambush

“Wars may be started by the failings of humanity
But they are won
By the craft
Of the keen and intelligent minds that fight them”
― Brendan Bigney, War What Comes After

“The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am President that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's.”
― Harry S Truman

“It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don't regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn't save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I'm not naive, and I don't romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job.”
― Chris Kyle

“The only person I wouldn't want to fight is myself." -Kai Gug”
― Kai Gug

“To the men, families, and the lost of 1st Battalion, 5th Marines OIFII: You are the fabric of the red, white, and blue! You are in my heart forever.”
― Donnelly Wilkes, Code Red Fallujah: A Doctor's Memoir at War

“and we could be just like any other couple,
stumbling home from any other party.
But when you talk about wartime, what you tell me
is how many stars there were, and how
some boys flew a kite on the mountain.
What you don't talk about
is huddling with a group of soldiers in a bunker
while the rockets came over the walls, how
most of you by chance came out, but two did not.
They were Canadian, you said offhandedly,
when you'd been home for a while,
and you never said it again.”
― Victoria Kelly, Mrs. Houdini