To hear them laugh was to hear that everything was all right, but to see them laugh was to see otherwise

Worst of all were the accolades and thanks from people “for what you guys did over there.” Thanks for what, I wanted to ask—shooting kids, cowering in terror behind a berm, dropping artillery on people’s...

And that was my homecoming. It was fine, I guess. Getting back feels like your first breath after nearly drowning. Even if it hurts, it’s good.

It was easy to make fun of the marines when they weren’t listening. In Holden’s navy days, making fun of jarheads was as natural as cussing. But four marines had died getting him off the...

I think they were trying to send a signal to young Marines that if they go, they will be followed to their graves by the Marine Corps.

As a civilian, I know nothing about combat, the Marine Corps experience or modern man’s struggle adjusting to peace after war. I only know what’s been shared with me; confidences I would never betray, nor...

We are moving toward an overall agreement. Other than the cost of moving the Marines, we have no major gaps between us.

My view is that the Marines are trying to send a message to people in the ranks today that they, too, will be required to participate in a war, whether they think it’s illegal or...

We need the Marines to be as sharp as possible.

If freedom is free and none need worry, then what blood drops for thee?

The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one’s country

You must be a light unto yourself.

[Another 400 Marines will return to Britain from the training exercises,] but will be held at a high readiness, … This arrangement will permit us to rotate companies aboard ship and so guarantee the whole...

It’s best to watch out for men, like me.

…It is a proud privilege to be a soldier – a good soldier … [with] discipline, self-respect, pride in his unit and his country, a high sense of duty and obligation to comrades and to...

This is a great group of Marines, … They did everything that was asked of them.

The Marine Corps is your family too. You may not have a mother here, but you have a shit pile of fathers, uncles, and brothers.

Again, thats blown out of proportion. Those young men and women were expressing their opinion. If you come over and talk to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines we have on the ground her in...

Show me a hero and I’ll show you a bum.

You may hate the war, but never hate the ones that fight. For they do not choose when or where to fight. All they chose was to protect who they love and even the people...

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...

If I charge, follow me. If I retreat, kill me. If I die, revenge me.

To change one’s field of influence is to change the course of one’s life.

Without the brave efforts of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines and their families, this Nation, along with our allies around the world, would not stand so boldly, shine so brightly and live so...

I will always hate war, but will be forever proud of mine.

The essence of the Marine Corps experience, I decided, was pain.

We All Bleed RedWe have a confirmed threat against the homeland and I for one am grateful for the Americans sitting in the Army conference room in Fort Stewart, Georgia. The display cubes and screens...

When the Marines do the math, they figure they can get the most out of Pfc. Pace in six- or seven-month deployments inside a normal four-year commitment.

The Japanese fought to win – it was a savage, brutal, inhumane, exhausting and dirty business. Our commanders knew that if we were to win and survive, we must be trained realistically for it whether...

Some people wonder all their lives if they’ve made a difference. The Marines don’t have that problem.

You know. The kind of love you have for someone you want to be like: Marines, astronauts, cowboys, teachers, big brothers, that sort of thing. You love them because they represent the you that you...

They Served…reliving memoriesthat will not diegiving their allfor you and I -friends takenlives shaken…

Your soul may belong to Jesus, but your ass belongs to the marines.

There was nothing green left; artillery had denuded and scarred every inch of ground. Tiny flares glowed and disappeared. Shrapnel burst with bluish white puffs. Jets of flamethrowers flickered and here and there new explosions...

In the simple moral maxim the Marine Corps teaches — do the right thing, for the right reason — no exception exists that says: unless there’s criticism or risk. Damn the consequences.

In the Marines, I was stunned, absolutely stunned, at everything around me, at what the world looked like.

I can see the little girl, the face of the little girl. And as much as people say that they don’t care about these people and all that, I don’t care about these people –...

A quick check on the platoon showed everyone more or less enjoying the flight.”Whatever it is you’re eating, Ressk, swallow it before we land,” [said Staff Sergeant Kerr].”No problem, Staff.””More like whoever he’s eating,” Binti...

The events of the day overcame me all at once, and I struggled to breathe without crying.As darkness fell over Qalat Sukkar, I sat alone in the dim green light of the radios. I felt...

By far, the Navy and the Marines have been the most successful at public affairs.