Quotes October 22, 2021

“Fear was the terrible secret of the battlefiled and could afflict the brave as well as the timid. Worse it was contagious, and could destroy a unit before a battle even began. Because of that, commanders were first and foremost in the fear suppression business.”
David Halberstam, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War
 
 
 
 
“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
 
 
 
 
“A military situation at its worst can inspire fighting men to perform at their best.”
Marguerite Higgins, War in Korea: The Report of a Woman Combat Correspondent
 
 
 
 
“Duty, Honor, Country” — those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying point to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes forlorn…”
Douglas MacArthur
 
 
 
 
“A retreat to Pusan would be one of the greatest bloodbaths in American history. We must fight until the end…. If some of us must die, we will die fighting together. Any man who gives ground may be personally responsible for the death of hundreds of thousands of his comrades. I want everybody to understand that we are going to hold this line. We are going to win.”
Gen. Walton Walker
 
 
 
 
“Retreat Hell! We’re just attacking in another direction.”
Attributed to Major General Oliver P. Smith, CG of the 1st Marine Division in Korea (1950), regarding his order for Marines to move southeast to the Hamhung area from the Hagaru perimeter.
 
 
 
 
“We’ve been looking for the enemy for several days now, we’ve finally found them. We’re surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them.”
Attributed to Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller during the Chosin Reservoir campaign in Korea, November 1950. Quoted in Marine! The Life of LtGen Lewis B. (Chesty) Puller, USMC (Ret.)
 
 
 
 
“The safest place in Korea was right behind a platoon of Marines. Lord, how they could fight. The Reds told us they were afraid to tangle with the Marines and avoided them when they could be located.”
Major General Frank E. Lowe, USA, Presidential observer on Korean War, in the Washington Daily News 26 Jan 1952.
 
 
 
 
All of my high school male teachers were WWII and/or Korean War veterans. They taught my brothers and me the value of service to our country and reinforced what our dad had shown us about the meaning of service.
Oliver North