American Patriot Quotes

“up to Day and said, “Now you are nothing. We have the crown prince.” Day was relieved to be nothing. He wondered who the new guy was and why he was being placed in the cell with him and Overly. The next morning the cell door opened, and a wreck of a man was carried inside on a stretcher and dumped onto the floor. He was in worse shape than Day. Both arms were broken. His leg was broken. A shoulder had been smashed by a rifle butt. He had been stabbed with a bayonet. He was the most severely injured of all the American POWs to enter Hoa Lo. He was near death. Trying to cheer this shell of a man, Day smiled. “I’m Bud Day.” He pointed. “This is Norris Overly.” He paused. “Welcome to the Hilton.” With eyes burning bright with fever, the thin, white-haired young pilot looked up from his stretcher and told his fellow prisoners his rank and name. The rank was lieutenant commander, U.S. Navy. The name was John McCain.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“That frail and stooped old man is Bud Day. That is Misty 1.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“It doesn’t matter if, like the Doolittle Raiders, the time comes when the Mistys can be counted on one hand. When only one Misty is left, that man will have his own reunion, and he will hoist a glass to his brothers who flew up north and who were in the shit on every mission. He will drink to those who never came back.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Russ Vaughn, a member of the fabled 101st Airborne Division who had served in Vietnam, published a widely circulated poem that told how the Swifties had won the “last battle of Vietnam.” The poem ended with “To our Brothers, forever, on that long black wall / You’ve been vindicated now, one and all.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Finally, and in light of what was about to take place, the most crucial bit of background information is to know something about military culture, particularly the inviolate concepts of honor and duty, of adhering to principle. (The overtly corrupt world where Congress, the military, and the defense industry come together, and the political world of generals, are obvious exceptions.) If a civilian can’t get his arms around the simple fact that honor and patriotism and adherence to a code of conduct are the inviolate core of the military heart, then he will never begin to understand the men and women in uniform.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“He closed with a partial verse from “Sir Andrew Barton,” one of the ballads in Percy’s Reliques, published in 1765. Barton had been wounded in battle. “Fight on, my men,” Sir Andrew sayes, “A little Ime hurt, but yett not slaine; He but lye downe and bleede awhile, And then He rise and fight againe.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“THE cadets came to their feet and the stadium erupted in a cheer that must have been heard all the way to Denver. Day marched the POWs to the center of the field, where they halted, pivoted, and faced the cadets. Risner ordered, “Present arms,” and the POWs saluted the cadets. The cadets popped to attention and returned the salute. In that frozen moment, nothing was said. But much was understood. Cadets barely in their twenties and long-retired officers in their seventies were joined across a half century.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“It was the familiar “rogue agent defense” — the agents had no authority to make the promises, and therefore the promises were not legal.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“You’re not telling us that these promises were not made; you’re just saying they don’t have to be kept?”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“it cannot be the intention of Congress or the Executive Department (defendant) to provide the aged Private Ryans a discriminatory hemlock drink from the cup of life after reaching age sixty-five. If in fact that is the intention, then this government of William Jefferson Clinton is not worth fighting for.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“It was also he who said of Day, “He is, by nature, incapable of allowing injustice to go unchallenged.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“But they were still warriors. Their hearts beat as resolutely as when they stormed the beaches on Pacific islands, as when they fought across Europe, and as when they tried to stay warm in the snows of Korea. They were ready to march.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“There had been many overseas deployments that separated them from their families. Countless times they had to uproot their families and move to another base, often to substandard quarters that were always too hot or too cold.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“As he later wrote, if he believed there were things he couldn’t do, he would still be working at the meatpacking plant in Sioux City.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“The most important speaks to the issue of character and integrity, traits noted in many of his ERs. He was more concerned with the welfare of his men than with his own advancement, a rare trait in the Air Force and a sign of a great leader.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Plus, he was a plainspoken man. Four decades later, when former Mistys were interviewed, they to a man spoke of Day’s bluntness. “He called a spade a fucking spade,” one said.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Tigers breed tigers. A candy-assed commander will have few tigers working for him. Each makes the other uncomfortable.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“So when a Vietnam-era fighter pilot says he flew up north, that means he ripped off the front gate of hell and flew into the deadliest air-defense system ever devised.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Their war plan is simple: kill everyone they meet. If they are not shooting, they are reloading.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“The Dining Out is a formal affair rooted in ancient history. From pre-Christian Roman legions, to marauding Vikings, to King Arthur’s knights, a banquet to celebrate military victories has long been customary among warriors. British soldiers brought the practice to colonial America, where it was adopted by George Washington’s army. Close bonds between U.S. Army Air Forces pilots and Royal Air Force (RAF) officers during World War II cemented the custom in the U.S. military.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“When Kerry had saluted, the bitter memories had rushed in: Once again it was April 1971, and Kerry was testifying before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. All the newspaper and television reporting about the Vietnam War flooded back too, coverage that many Vietnam veterans believe is the longest-running hoax ever perpetrated on the American public. And here was the man they believed responsible. Many in the military community suddenly realized John Kerry could be elected commander in chief.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“They were about to go to war with Uncle Sam. And it broke their hearts.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Their history was in their eyes, and their sacrifices in their scars.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“They wanted to know about Commando Sabre.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“Misty 2” was Bill Douglass, the operations officer and a laconic fellow who became famous for consistently neglecting marking rockets in favor of pointing the snout of his F-100 at a AAA battery and boring in with guns chattering.”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day

“No higher praise can be awarded a fighter pilot than to say he is “shit hot.” (The phonetic version used in polite company is “Sierra Hotel.”)”
― Robert Coram, American Patriot: The Life and Wars of Colonel Bud Day