Tag: Military

Quotes August 08, 2025

“The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment.”
Judd Gregg
 
 
 
 
“It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.”
General Norman Schwarzkopf
 
 
 
 
“Honor to the Soldier and Sailor everywhere who bravely bears his country’s cause. Honor also to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field, and serves, as he best can, the same cause—honor to him, only less than to him, who braves, for the common good, the storms of heaven and the storms of battle.”
President Abraham Lincoln
 
 
 
 
“No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he is vigilant in its preservation.”
General Douglas MacArthur
 
 
 
 
“My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place—police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces.” Sidney Sheldon
 
 
 
 
“The soldier’s heart, the soldier’s spirit, the soldier’s soul, are everything.”
General George C. Marshall
 
 
 
 
“True patriotism isn’t cheap. It’s about taking on a fair share of the burden of keeping America going.”
Robert Reich
 
 
 
 
“Bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.”
Colonel David Hackworth
 
 
 
 

Quotes August 01, 2025

“For love of country they accepted death.”
James A. Garfield
 
 
 
 
“We must never forget why we have and why we need our military.”
Lt. Colonel Allen West
 
 
 
 
“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided Republic.”
John A. Logan
 
 
 
 
Word to the Nation: Guard zealously your right to serve in the armed forces, for without them, there will be no other rights to guard.”
“Our servicemen and women are serving throughout the world as guardians of peace–many of them away from their homes, their friends, and their families. They are visible evidence of our determination to meet any threat to the peace with measured strength and high resolve. They are also evidence of a harsh but inescapable truth–that the survival of freedom requires great cost and commitment, and great personal sacrifice.”
President John F. Kennedy
 
 
 
 
“Today, let us, as Americans, honor the American fighting man. For it is he–the soldier, the sailor, the Airman, the Marine–who has fought to preserve freedom. It is his valor that has given renewed hope to the free world that by working together in discipline and faith our ideals of freedom will always prevail.”
Admiral Forrest P. Sherman
 
 
 
 

Quotes July 18, 2025

“At this point, Sergeant Bellavia, armed with a M249 SAW gun, entered the room where the insurgents were located and sprayed the room with gunfire … Seeing a Jihadist loading an RPG launcher, Sergeant Bellavia gunned him down. … Sergeant Bellavia then came under fire from the insurgent upstairs and the staff sergeant returned the fire, killing the man. … Sergeant Bellavia pursued, but slipped on the blood-soaked stairs. … Sergeant Bellavia put a choke hold on the wounded insurgent to keep him from giving away their position. … In the wild scuffle that followed, Sergeant Bellavia took out his knife and slit the Jihadist’s throat.”
Silver Star citation for David S. Bellavia, Iraq
 
 
 
 
“I’d learned a lot in the Army. I knew that above all things in the world I had to become so big, so strong that people and their hatred could never touch me.”
Sammy Davis, Jr.
 
 
 
 
“Hooah!”
Pretty much the entire U.S. Army.
 
 
 
 
“They’ve got us surrounded again, the poor bastards.”
Gen. Creighton Abrams
 
 
 
 
“9/11 changed the entire direction of my life.”
Fred Wellman, who had served as a helicopter pilot in the Army and rejoined after September 11 to serve as a public affairs officer.
 
 
 
 
“It took me another 18 months to convince my wife to let me join the Army National Guard. We had two small children, so it was a very hard decision
for her.”
Joel Bottem, a veteran who rejoined after 9/11
 
 
 
 
“It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.”
Zell Miller
 
 
 
 

Quotes July 11, 2025

“The most striking thing I have seen throughout my almost four years of service are the NCOs who are willing to do anything for their soldiers. … It’s amazing to have and know people who are willing to go out of their way for you.”
Stephanie Schneider, Afghanistan veteran
 
 
 
 
“The sergeant is the Army.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
 
 
 
 
“My answer is bring ’em on.”
President George W. Bush, talking about insurgents attacking U.S. military members in July 2003
 
 
 
 
“I’m very happy with how it all played. I was very blessed. That was my idea, to go to enlist, do one tour and fight and get out.”
David Kaefring, U.S. Army veteran of Afghanistan
 
 
 
 
“So far, I’ve spent my entire adult life fighting.”
James Coleman, U.S. Army sergeant
 
 
 
 
“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.
Colin Powell
 
 
 
 
“Lead from the front.”
Audie Murphy, most decorated U.S. soldier in World War II
 
 
 
 
It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle.
Norman Schwarzkopf
 
 
 
 
“What can we do to support the troops? Give them a nation that is worthy of protection.”
Two-tour Army veteran who emailed me when I was writing an article for The Atlantic in 2007
 
 
 
 

Quotes June 27, 2025

“We were at war. I wanted to do my part.”
Stephen Kraft, who joined the army at age 28 after 9/11.
 
 
 
 
“I love ‘Joe.’”
U.S. Army captain, to me, explaining why he stayed in the army after several deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
 
 
 
 
“I can at least go out and defend my country and do something honorable as a father. Show my son something good.”
Joshua Hernandez, who joined after 9/11, and deployed to Iraq twice.
 
 
 
 
“I just wanted to do something to support those young people.”
Matthew Niblack, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran who joined the National Guard as a sergeant with an age wavier in his early 50s and deployed to Kuwait.
 
 
 
 
“This is all normal, routine stuff. Dude with the AK that I shot in the street? That’s routine. The dudes digging an IED? That’s an everyday occurrence.”
An Army lieutenant whose platoon I embedded with in Iraq in 2007.
 
 
 
 
“I’d do it all again if I had the chance.”
Zachariah Chitwood, a veteran of the U.S. Army who was wounded in Iraq.
 
 
 
 

Quotes May 16, 2025

“In combat, acts of valor come from aiding and defending comrades.”
WILLIAM R. CHARETTE, NAVY-KOREAN WAR
 
 
 
 
“The legacy of brave men and women who have fought and died for their country is the freedom we enjoy as Americans.”
LUCIAN ADAMS, ARMY-WORLD WAR II
 
 
 
 
“Have the courage to defend it with honor, integrity, and your life if necessary.”
JOE. M. JACKSON, AIR FORCE-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“Moral Courage – doing what has to be done, because it is the right thing to do – is the mark of a true hero.”
THOMAS G. KELLEY, NAVY-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“Mediocrity and failure result from choice, not chance. Success is born of courage alone and God has made this marvelous gift infinitely available to all who ask for it.”
PATRICK H. BRADY, ARMY-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“I’m in awe of our nation’s heroes and seek to understand where they found their courage in battle.”
JAMES M. SPRAYBERRY, ARMY-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 

Quotes May 09, 2025

“Go out into the world in peace; have courage; hold onto what is good; strengthen the faint hearted; support the weak; help the suffering; honor all people.”
CARL L. SITTER, MARINE CORPS-KOREAN WAR
 
 
 
 
“A man’s integrity is his greatest asset. Without it, he has nothing.”
LOUIS R. ROCCO, ARMY-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“The most important possession you have is your name – never dishonor it.”
DAVID H. MCNERNEY, ARMY-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“One must have good character, solid principles, and high ethical standards to inspire others to follow.”
WESLEY L. FOX, MARINE CORPS-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“No matter how difficult it seems at the time, it’s easier to do the right thing than spend a lifetime regretting that you didn’t.”
ROBERT O’MALLEY, MARINE CORPS-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“My Medal of Honor should be shared with all my shipmates.”
RICHARD M. MCCOOL, NAVY-WORLD WAR II
 
 
 
 
“Life on this earth is short but precious. Strive to do good for others and enjoy doing it.”
JOSEPH C. RODRIGUEZ, ARMY-KOREAN WAR
 
 
 
 

Quotes May 02, 2025

“There is no greater honor than the opportunity to serve and help preserve our freedom – it’s the essence of humanity.”
JAMES E. LIVINGSTON, MARINE CORPS-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“Millions have served in the military and made sacrifices, and most have gone unrecognized.”
GEORGE E. WAHLEN, NAVY-WORLD WAR II
 
 
 
 
“Think about the past and consider the sacrifices men and women in the military have made the essence of humanity.”
GARY G. WETZEL, ARMY-VIETNAM WAR
 
 
 
 
“Your faith in God and your commitment to friends and loved ones will always guide you to take the right action.”
ALEJANDRA R. RUIZ, ARMY-WORLD WAR II
 
 
 
 
“When something needs to be done, push ahead and overcome all obstacles – there is always a way.”
JAY ZEAMER, JR., ARMY-WORLD WAR II
 
 
 
 
“Without discipline, there can be no success in any endeavor.”
ARTHUR J. JACKSON, MARINE CORPS-WORLD WAR II
 
 
 
 
“We didn’t break faith with those who died.”
EDWARD R. SCHOWALTER, ARMY-KOREAN WAR
 
 
 
 
“If I am a slave, and you’re free, will you fight for my liberty?”
LEWIS L. MILLETT, ARMY-KOREAN WAR
 
 
 
 

Quotes February 28, 2025

I had to leave school at 14 because my father got injured in the mines and I had to support my family. I was an undertaker’s assistant, then a plasterer, before doing my military service in the RAF. All the while, I was doing amateur dramatics and dreaming of getting a scholarship to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Brian Blessed
 
 
 
 
A young man who does not have what it takes to perform military service is not likely to have what it takes to make a living. Today’s military rejects include tomorrow’s hard-core unemployed.
John F. Kennedy
 
 
 
 
Making Virginia the best place for military service members and their families to live and the number one state for service members to retire has been a priority of mine since day one.
Glenn Youngkin
 
 
 
 
Peace through strength works; but the flip side is war invited by weakness.
Pete Hegseth
 
 
 
 
It’s when we care for each other – choosing inclusion and love over division and hatred – that this great country is at its greatest.
As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war.
Tulsi Gabbard
 
 
 
 
My grandma always had two gods: Jesus Christ and the United States of America. I was no different, and neither was anyone else I knew.
J. D. Vance
 
 
 
 

Quotes February 21, 2025

Unselfishness, as far as you are concerned means simply this – you will put first the honour and interests of your country and your regiment; next you will put the safety, well-being and comfort of your men; and last – and last all the time – you will put your own interest, your own safety, your own comfort.
Field Marshal Sir Bill Slim, Courage and other Broadcasts,1957
 
 
 
 
No man is a leader until he is ratified in the minds and hearts of his men.
The Infantry Journal, 1948
 
 
 
 
The most important thing I learned is that soldiers watch what their leaders do. You can give them classes and lecture them forever, but it is your personal example they will follow.
General Colin Powell
 
 
 
 
People think that the follower serves the leader. But that isn’t true. The leader and the follower both serve the mission.
Ira Chaleff
 
 
 
 
Leadership must be based on goodwill. Goodwill does not mean posturing and, least of all, pandering to the mob. It means obvious and wholehearted commitment to helping followers. We are tired of leaders we fear… What we need for leaders are men of heart who are so helpful that they, in effect, do away with the need of their jobs. But leaders like that are never out of a job, never out of followers.
…leaders under pressure must keep themselves absolutely clean morally. The relativism of the social sciences will never do. They must lead by example, must be able to implant high-mindedness to their followers, and must have earned their followers’ respect by demonstrating integrity.
Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, 1987