Favorite Military Quotes

[Guttersnipe]

This one has always rang true for me..

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we should grow we should grow to fond of it"

Robert E. Lee

 

[Erik]

Either one, from one of the greatest:

"We're surrounded. That simplifies the problem."
- Attributed to Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of
us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time"
- Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller, USMC

 

[Chas]

It is most definitely not.
(ex-Green Beret)

That quote comes from a Monk (or other clergyman) in the army about to storm the stronghold of the Albigensian Heretics (Cathars) in Languedoc. It was a reply to a question as to how could they tell which inhabitants of the fortress were Cathars, and which were not.

"Kill them all...God will know his own"

Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius

EDIT...double post!! Ha ha ha! Should have read the preceding pages

 

[mclmm]

"They've got us surrounded again - the poor bastards!"
Abrams - Battle of the Bulge 1944

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I think there's a very famous quote from Nelson that I will let a Brit contribute.

Quip of the day! :eusa_clap




(Nelson's dying words to Captain Thomas Hardy were "Kiss me Hardy." )

.

 

[Norumbega]

It is only when a man supremely gives, that he supremely finds........
Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

 

[Spitfire]

Allied pilot heard on the radio during a dogfight.
"I am down here with 3 ME110 - but I've got them surrounded!"

- can't remember his nationality though..:eusa_doh:

 

[Norumbega]

"The 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, First Lady of the United States, 1945

 

[Harp]

Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius

Vita quod nex es geminus.

 

[John in Covina]

My dad was in WWII in the 99th Infantry Battalion (the other skiing mountain troops) and did not often tell war stories. He did tell me that at some point he was assigned to a howitzer crew (the small mobile ones) and was issued an M1 Carbine so he had to turn in his trusty M1 Garrand. My dad's opinion of the carbine was rather low in it's use in the European Theater. He said: That POS carbine was only useful in letting the other side know that you were shooting at them!" Meaning it had little power and accuracy in comparison to the Garrand for the engagement distances most of the time.

He also said: "That you have never felt quite as naked as when someone is shooting at you."

He related that there was a famous warning that came down from above that suggested great caution engaging the locals as they moved thru Europe towards Germany. "Beware of the indigenous population, they're all foreigners!"

Dad passed away 11/11/99 and is buried in Calveton National Cemetary on Long Island, NY.

 

[cloudspotter]

my favorite

Erich von Manstein (German General Field Marshal): „Flieger können Bomben werfen und Ziele bekämpfen, aber sie können sie nicht halten. Das kann nur die Infantrie. Ihr Soldat bestimmt den Geländegewinn, wo sein Stiefel steht, ist eigenes Gebiet“

„Planes can throw bombs and strafe targets, but they cannot keep hold of them. This can only be done by the infantry man; he captures countries, only where his boot is standing is own land”


Was true back then and still is ...


and of course the alltime favourite:

"sweat saves blood"

 

[Norumbega]

"And remember men, your rifle was made by the lowest bidder....."

 

[Diamondback]

and of course the alltime favourite:

"sweat saves blood"

Let us elaborate withe the full quote:
"Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives and brains saves both."--Patton, IIRC

 

[Mike in Seattle]

Ronald Reagan in Hellcats of the Navy speaking to soon to be wife Nancy Davis -

"I wanted a wife and children, not a widow and orphans."

 

[maxmanta]

"I've seen such behavior in a war room!"

 

[maxmanta]

My dad was in WWII in the 99th Infantry Battalion (the other skiing mountain troops) and did not often tell war stories. He did tell me that at some point he was assigned to a howitzer crew (the small mobile ones) and was issued an M1 Carbine so he had to turn in his trusty M1 Garrand. My dad's opinion of the carbine was rather low in it's use in the European Theater. He said: That POS carbine was only useful in letting the other side know that you were shooting at them!" Meaning it had little power and accuracy in comparison to the Garrand for the engagement distances most of the time."



Dad passed away 11/11/99 and is buried in Calveton National Cemetary on Long Island, NY.

My own father (who served domestically after WWII) had the same complaint about the little carbine.

Realize that the M1 carbine was never intended to replace the M1 in combat operations, but to give the rear echelons something a little more formidable than their sidearm. Don't think of it small rifle but as a large handgun.

TBM

 

[maxmanta]

During my childhood my parents had a lifetime friend who had been at Bastogne. He claimed McAuliffe did not reply with the single word: Nuts.

The single word was: Shit.

I have no way to confirm the man's veracity. Considering the Bastogne resistance story became nearly immediate folklore, I think it's possible that the general's defiance was cleaned up for dissemination.

I aways thought his reply was "Balls."

TBM

 

[Fletch]

 

[Maguire]

Butler was an interesting case indeed.

Hannibal's cavalry commander Maharbal supposedly said to him after the Battle of Cannae that if they marched forward they could be in Rome in a matter of days, an idea Hannibal rejected offhand. Maharbal allegedly said "You know how to gain a victory, but not how to use it".

Frederick the Great said "he who defends everything defends nothing" which is a quote i also like.

the Hindu sacred text Bhagavad Gita has a great quote on the nature of "sacred war" which corresponds with the ideas of "holy war" in nearly every other faith as the protagonist is wavering, seeing family or friends in the battle line of the enemy and is spoken to-

"killed, you will obtain heaven; victorious, you will enjoy the earth. Therefore arise, O son of Kunti, resolved to engage in
battle. Looking alike on pleasure and pain, on gain and loss, on victory and defeat, then prepare for battle, and thus you
will not incur sin."

I suppose i still go for the inspirational quotes, which is easy for someone who hasn't seen combat himself.

 

[Diamondback]

It is most definitely not.
(ex-Green Beret)

I'll take "De Oppresso Liber" for $1000, Alex... lol

The "sleeping giant" line was Yamamoto's, as was a warning about not invading the US mainland as "... there will be a rifle behind every blade of grass".