Favorite Military Quotes

[Geesie]

John Paul Jones:

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.

I have not yet begun to fight!

I may sink, but I'll be damned if I strike!

What makes it so great is that his ship, the Bonhomme Richard, did sink but he still won - he captured the ship that sunk his.

Arleigh Burke:

This ship is built to fight. You had better know how.

 

[HadleyH]

All right, they are on our left, they are on our right, they are in front of us, they are behind us...they can't get away this time.

~Lewis B."Chesty" Puller USMC~




Just drive down that road,until you get blown up.

~General Patton, about reconnaissance troups ~

 

[KilroyCD]

"Don't panic! Don't panic!" - Lance Corporal Jones lol

 

[Aviator]

Something a friend of mine used to say (not original, I'm sure), after anyone shared a serious war story:

"So there I was: at night, in the *goo... and inverted. How did I know we were inverted? My air medal was hitting me in the chin. We were pulling so many G's we were in the H's, with the flack so heavy I was able to get out of the plane and do a walk around. We were shot down deep in enemy territory, with only slingshot and a box of condoms. 'We're surrounded' my copilot said. 'Great', I said. 'We can't miss'"

*[Ed: the term "goo" is said by aviators to indicate you are in heavy clouds and can't see anything]

 

[Moby]

"The purpose of the Military is to break things and kill people."

 

[Weston]

I'm no Brit, but I've got to stick up for Nelson.

"England expects every man will do his duty!"

 

[WH1]

"In war friction is inherent, stress is self created."

Not sure who said it but a damn good officer I worked with quoted it often and I have generally found it to be true.

"Through our great good fortune, in our youth our hearts were touched with fire. It was given to us to learn at the outset that life is a profound and passionate thing."
Oliver Wendell Holmes, May 30, 1884

"Come on you sons of bitches, do you want to live forever."
SgtMaj Dan Daly at the Battle of Belleau Wood, June 1918

 

[Diamondback]

"There have been few great intelligence officers in history. Mine is not one of them."--MacArthur, on his G-2 Charles Willoughby

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

most of these are from submarinesailor.com

"Submarine life most of the time is hours and hours of boredom with intermittent terror thrown in to keep you on your toes!"

"Life is not fair, life was not meant to be fair. We in the submarine service are fortunate to learn this fact early in life, that life is not fair.."

"Of all the branches of men in the forces there is none which shows more devotion and faces grimmer perils than the submariners." - Sir Winston Churchill

"Submariners are a bunch of intelligent misfits that somehow seem to get along, understand each other and work well together.”

"He is the Submarine Sailor who served in silence, but in his silence, has heard the laughter of future generations.”

"The Navy is not a job, it's not a career. It's a way of life.”

"Submariners are a special brotherhood, either all come to the surface or no one does. On a submarine, the phrase all for one and one for all is not just a slogan, but reality.”

"The North Atlantic is a cruel and unforgiving body of water”

"Like the destroyer, the submarine has created its own type of officer and man with language and traditions apart from the rest of the service, and yet at the heart unchangingly of the Service” - Rudyard Kipling

(last one from funny military quotes)

"Even if a submarine should work by a miracle, it will never be used. No country in this world would ever use such a vicious and petty form of warfare!" - William Henderson, British admiral (1914)

Prien

 

[Harp]

"Short."

 

[LuketheLurker]

“Kill ‘em, Kill’em all” said by T.J. “Stonewall” Jackson in response to an aid asking him what should we do with them now, general?, after he saw the devastation that federal troops had done to the City Of Fredericksburg in ‘62.
Another good one was uttered by “Uncle Billy” Sherman at a Q & A in 1893, when some one asked him what really happened during the Carolina campaigns. “Sometimes history is just best left alone.”
So, curt, brief and to the point. Gotta love those Civil War generals.

 

[Chas]

I think that this is my favorite US Civil war related anecdote -

Somone mentioned to Lincoln that Grant was drinking again

Lincoln: "find out what brand of whiskey he drinks and distribute it to all my other generals."

 

[Moby]

Spoken by a Marine:

" We're the Men's Department of the Navy."

 

[reetpleat]

Custer at Little Big Horn. "Damn, look at all those indians."

 

[Rachael]

Brave Sir Robin: Run Away!

 

[carter]

My favorite two by Geo. W. Patton:

“The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other ba***rd die for his.”

“Give me an army of West Point graduates and I'll win a battle. Give me a handful of Texas Aggies, and I'll win the war.”

 

[Smithy]

One of my personal favourites is from the Battle of Britain when 92 Squadron, hugely outnumbered, were attacking an enormous force of German aircraft of well over 150 aeroplanes.

One member of 92 was heard asking his section leader for assistance...

"Blue leader, can you give me a hand? I'm just off to your starboard somewhere."

Despite the desperation of the situation, this reply was heard over the R/T,

"Sorry old boy, I've got three 109s on to me but don't worry, I've got them surrounded."

 

[carter]

One of my personal favourites is from the Battle of Britain when 92 Squadron, hugely outnumbered, were attacking an enormous force of German aircraft of well over 150 aeroplanes.

One member of 92 was heard asking his section leader for assistance...

"Blue leader, can you give me a hand? I'm just off to your starboard somewhere."

Despite the desperation of the situation, this reply was heard over the R/T,

"Sorry old boy, I've got three 109s on to me but don't worry, I've got them surrounded."

Smithy, Thanks for posting that one. It's one of my favorites but I couldn't locate the book. A book I purchased based on your recommendation BTW.

 

[Smithy]

Thanks Carter. I'm pleased you enjoyed it!

 

[carter]

BTW, I watched a film early this morning, Dark Blue World, about Czech pilots who flew for the RAF during WWII. It' is, I believe, a joint British-Czech production. It also showed the imprisonment of the surviving Czech pilots, by the Communists, when they returned home after the war. A very oood film IMHO.