Quotes from famous military men................?

Question

I collect quotations from military men, men who have been in battle. I am often intrigued by their determination and fortitude in times of war. Do you have any favorite quotations to share? Also...........have any of our military women ever been known to say something significant that went down in history???

Answer 1

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists but by Christians: not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ! For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity and freedom of worship here."Patrick Henry

" Amongst other strange things said of me, I hear it is said by the Deists that I am one of their number: and. indeed that some good people think I am no Christian. Yhis thought gives me much more painthan the appellation of Troy; because I think religion of infinitely more importance than politics; and I find much cause to reproach myself that I have lived so long and have given no decided and public proofs of my being a Christian. But, indeed, my dear child, this is the character which I prize far above all this world has, or can boast."
PATRICK HENRY, in a letter to his daughter 1796

Patrick Henry for those who don't know who he is, is the one who stated "give me liberty or give me death" in a speech at the House of Burgesses in Virginia - the spark that ignited the American Revolution.

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible." George Wahington

While we are zealously performing the duties of good citizens and soldiers, we certainly ought not to be inattentive to the higher duties of religion. To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian. George Washington - Generals orders of May 2nd 1778

Let us unite, therefore,
in imploring the
Supreme Ruler of Nations,
to spread His holy protection
over these United States...
to enable us at all times to
root out internal sedition,
and put invasion to flight:
to perpetuate to our country
that prosperity, which His
goodness has already conferred,
and to verify the anticipation
of this government being a
safeguard to human rights.
George Washington

"I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God and those who have the superintendence of them into His Holy keeping."
-- George Washington

Taken straight from George Washingtons prayer journal..http://www.eadshome.com/WashingtonPrayer...
O most glorious God in Jesus Christ, my merciful and loving father, I acknowledge and confess my guilt, in the weak and imperfect performance of the duties of this day..I have called on Thee for pardon and forgiveness of sins...sounds pretty Christian to me.Unless diests pray to Jesus.Not!

Samuel Adams the Father of the American Revolution, declared:
There is one above us who will take exemplary vengeance for every insult of His majesty. You know that the cause of America is just. You know that she contends for the freedom to which all men are entitled--that she contends against oppression, rapine, and more than savage barbarity. The blood of the innocent is upon your hands, and all the waters of the ocean will not wash it away. We again make our solemn appeal to the God of heaven to decide between you and us. And we pray that in the doubtful scale of battle,we may be successful as we have justice on our side, and that the merciful Savior of the world may forgive our oppressors.
The writings of Samuel Adams to the Earl of Carlisle and others on July 16th 1778
May every citizen in the army and in the country have a proper sense of the Deity upon his mind and an impression of the declaration recorded in the Bible,"Him that honoreth me I will honor, but he that despiseth me shall be lightly esteemed"
[Samuel 2:30]. Samuel Adams article signed "Vindex" in Boston Gazette on June 12,1780

I sat next to John Adams in Congress, and upon my whispering to him and asking him if he thought we should succeed in our struggle with Great Britan, he answered me, "Yes-- if we fear God and repent of our sins." This anecdotewill, I hope teach my boys that it is not necessary to disbelieve Christianity or to renounce morality in order to arrive at the highest political usefulness or fame.From Letters of Benjamin Rush

But you know they keep trying to tell us our founing fathers intended for this to be a secular nation. What do you think?

Answer 2

The military don't start wars. Politicians start wars. ~William Westmoreland

We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

Wars usually have the effect of speeding up the process of history. ~Pieter Geyl

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~John Stewart Mill

Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
~Sir Winston Churchill

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on. ~Ulysses S. Grant

The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it.
~George Orwell

Damn the torpedoes! Full steam ahead! ~Admiral David Farragut

Answer 3

Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!" Eleanor Roosevelt

Answer 4

This one has some humor to it. That's why I never forgot it. The pilots name was Zemke, a P-47 pilot in WW II. He was an ace, but I forget his first name. He was talking about when he first arrived in Europe fresh from training. He said, "On my very first combat mission, I was able to destroy an aircraft. Unfortunately, it was the one I was in." He had a tire blow out during take off and slid into a ditch. "We never knew where we were going, but we were always the first ones to get there." by Les Radil, Navy, 1943. "That's the Army for ya. Leave ya for dead in the desert, and if ya make it back, you're punished for being hungry." by Bill Wendlandt, North Africa, 1942, after he and his squad got cut off by the Germans - walked for 9 days back to U.S. troops and took rations from a truck in which Bill had his pay suspended for 30 days. "They washed us down with fire hoses and gave us new uniforms. After that, people would approach us again instead of yelling instructions from 20 feet away." by Homer King, Germany, 1945, after being rescued from a POW camp. "I got shot up a few times, but never shot down." by Roger Kanten, B-17 pilot, 1944. "From that day on, I knew exactly why I was on that destroyer. And I wouldn't have given up my place on that ship for anything in the world." by Paul Dunn, 1943. Paul was a gunner in a 5 inch gun turret on the USS Leutze (lootz) and he said that after his first encounter with a Japanese ship. All these quotes, except for Zemke, came from Veterans in Clearwater County, Minnesota.

Answer 5

"Uncommon valor was a common virtue"- Admiral Chester Nimitz commenting on the actions of U.S. Marines in the Battle of Iwo Jima.
"Take care of your men and your men will take care of you"- Marine General Smedley Darlington Butler.
"Thirty knots!"- Captain Arleigh Burke when asked "what do you think are you doing" in a naval message from his superior officer during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Burke was using his squadron of destroyers to take on a vastly superior Japanese Naval surface force at the time. He later acquired that as a nickname and was the Chief of Naval Operations during the start of the nuclear-powered Navy.
"Because it costs so damned much to keep them in paint and powder!"- Admiral Chester Nimitz when asked by war correspondents why the Navy refers to ships in the feminine diminutive, i.e: "she" her". Of course, in this era of political correctness he would be dismissed from the service.

Answer 6

One of my favorites is from Gunnery Sergeant Dan Daly...

"Come on, you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever?"

After reports saying the Corp needed to be more polite and after some criticizing him for speaking poorly among the troops, he firmly insisted that what he actually said was:

"For goodness sake, you chaps, let us advance against the foe!"

Answer 7

My favourites are...

Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles. -- George Washington

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike at him as hard as you can and as often as you can, and keep moving on. -- U S Grant

Fear tends to cause you to focus, it tends to cause your adrenaline to run, it tends to cause you to perhaps see things in much, much sharper perspective at that instant. -- H. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.

No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. -- Geoge Patton

Old soldiers never die; they just fade away. -- Douglas MacAurthur

One of the fondest expressions around is that we can't be the world's policeman. But guess who gets called when somebody needs a cop. -- Colin Powell


There are contingency plans in the NATO doctrine to fire a nuclear weapon for demonstrative purposes, to demonstrate to the other side that they are exceeding the limits of toleration in the conventional area, -- Alexander Haig

Answer 8

"We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem."

Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller, United States Marine.

"Be Proud!"
2nd Battalion, 80th Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Sill, OK.

"Proud Americans"
32nd Field Artillery Regiment.

"A good plan, violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan next week."
General George S. Patton, Jr.

“I am a soldier, I fight where I am told, and I win where I fight.”
Patton.

“If everybody is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”
Patton.

“Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way. ”
Patton.

"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.”
Patton.

Answer 9

A coward dies many times in life, A brave man taste of death but once. Julis Ceaser

Answer 10

Hajji, the other white meat.........SSG Baker, OIF 1...Found on a billboard outside of his tent. New quote everyday.

Answer 11

George Patton:
" I would rather have a German division in front of me than a French division in back of me."