Inside Delta Force Quotes

“Inherited wealth may be easily squandered, but inherited poverty is a legacy almost impossible to loose.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“From the vantage point of my warm, comfortable spot on mother earth, I could see off into infinite space and the eternity of time. In just a few hours, I thought, some of us are going to make that leap into eternity. And I will be one of the instruments of that voyage. I may also be one of the travelers....It's going to happen sooner or later. But if today is my day-I'm going to have a cup of coffee first.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“War has also taught me that each one of us contains every ingredient of the human recipe. By varying measure we are all cowards and brave men, thieves and honest men, selfish and selfless men, malingerers and champions, weasels and lions. The only question is how much of each attribute we allow—or force—to dominate our being.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“I always love that 'we' part from a staff officer.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“The author, then in the final stage as a candidate for Delta Force, was asked by the unit's foreboding colonel what he thought of the evaluation's Stress Week. He responded that he was waiting for it to begin, reasoning that, used to responsibility for others while leading a platoon, he only had himself to worry about. However hard the trial, he got four meals a day, nobody shot at, him, and the weather was pleasant.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“If there is one thing that always sticks in my mind about how Delta Force goes about a mission, it is the utterly businesslike attitude of the men. There is none of that Hollywood crap. No posturing, no sloganeering, no high fives, no posing, no bluster, and no bombast. Just a quiet determination to get on with the job.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“It was easier to think of being shot than of shooting a mate.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“I am a nomad, son of an ancient line of nomads. The larger part of my family line is made up of the Scots-Irish, a people descended from that peculiar mixture of the Celts of the northern British Isles and the invading Danes and Norsemen. The result was a landless, illiterate, anarchic, and warlike people who were always difficult, if not downright impossible, to govern. They were a race the British Crown rightfully viewed as dangerous rebels,”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“What did I receive from this lineage? Things I consider to be very valuable: a good raw intellect and a good tough body. A sense of independence and a realization that wherever I am is my home. A sense of humor. A sense of personal honor that results in a touchiness common to our people. We are easily offended and prone to violence when offended. When the only thing you own is your sense of honor, you tend to protect it at all costs.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“It was just a short step from running drugs to hijacking planes, but I was willing to bet the guy who dreamed this one up was sweating blood right now.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“And even though we usually operated there in small teams, that didn’t mean that was the way we always did things. Like a carpenter planning a job, bigger lumber calls for bigger nails and bigger nails call for a bigger hammer. And sometimes, things would pop up that called for a larger force.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Santos didn’t agree with the decision, but he would comply with it. Orders are orders, even stupid ones.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“His real strength, however, was in leading men. Whether he was leading crack American troops or a tribe of indigenous warriors, Santos could always get the job done and bring his own troops home again.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Honduras already had a rather substantial and relatively well trained army, but when she started having problems with political kidnappings, assassinations, and cross-border raids, the decision was made to ask for American assistance in forming a small specialized unit that could counter those problems.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“So I volunteered to be the one to make the trips. I did not want my sons, or the sons of my brothers, or any of the other young men in my village, to make such a dangerous trip. If someone is to perish or be captured and sent to prison—then let it be me. I am an old man. My wife is dead and there is no longer anyone who depends on me for food or a father’s protection. My loss would account for little”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Working in cooperation with the Honduran authorities, we had been fairly successful in choking off the supply of arms coming overland from Nicaragua, and that had forced the Nicaraguans to take to the water in an effort to keep their Salvadoran comrades supplied with the necessities of insurrection.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“As I have said previously, Central America was a place of overwhelming political turmoil, and no spot was more volatile than the small country of El Salvador. That’s especially ironic when you realize that the country’s name means “The Savior.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“But from what I know firsthand and have learned from individuals I trust, I believe some of those who were in the know made a desperate, and ultimately successful, attempt to make sure no live Americans would emerge from captivity in Vietnam.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Vietnam. And yes. That is a painful thing to even contemplate.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“These invaluable skills were attributable to the biofeedback training we received from the unit psychologist.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Fuck ’em if they can’t take a joke!”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Beirut was one of the most exquisite, cosmopolitan cities in the world—a city well worth seeing. But that was years ago, long before her society tore itself apart.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“I do not believe there was any other officer in the United States Army who had the integrity, the perseverance, and the sheer guts to do the job Charlie Beckwith did in forming and breathing life into 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment—Delta. And at the end of a life’s season, that was one hell of a harvest to bring in.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“He was a commander who wouldn’t send you where he wouldn’t go himself and always acted on what he thought was in the best interests of the nation, the Army, and the unit . . . and damn the consequences to his career.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“But it is important to realize that we have the ability to manufacture our own fate when we want to. We can summon up intestinal fortitude and proceed when things look bad, or we can find plenty of reasons to quit if we don’t want to go forward.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“That’s just great. Really what we needed to top off this extravaganza. I couldn’t remember anyone ever surviving a C-130 ditching. This last act was going to be a real crowd pleaser.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Flying low enough, to borrow a phrase from Dr. Strangelove, “to fry chickens in the barnyard.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“A combat plan is an animal in a constant state of metamorphosis and is under continual revision right up until the first shot is fired—at which time it usually ceases to have relevance.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Until Colonel Beckwith slammed his foot down, we had the all-too-common phenomenon of a mission being planned by men who wouldn’t be taking part in it and putting their own lives at risk.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“There is no better way for an organization to improve itself and move forward in a professional manner. But it is a process that must be fundamentally rooted in trust and mutual respect. The very instant it becomes a weapon rather than a lens for diagnostic analysis, the process is dead.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit