What Is your favorite Military Quote? Tell Us Here!

Speech given by Lieutenant Colonel Tim Collins, Commanding Officer 1st Bn Royal Irish Regiment, 20 March 2003, Kuwait, near the Iraqi border.

"We go to liberate not to conquer. We will not fly our flags in their country. We are entering Iraq to free a people and the only flag which will be flown in that ancient land is their own. Show respect for them.

"There are some who are alive at this moment who will not be alive shortly. Those who do not wish to go on that journey, we will not send. As for the others I expect you to rock their world. Wipe them out if that is what they choose. But if you are ferocious in battle remember to be magnanimous in victory.

"Iraq is steeped in history. It is the site of the Garden of Eden, of the Great Flood and the birthplace of Abraham. Tread lightly there. You will see things that no man could pay to see and you will have to go a long way to find a more decent, generous and upright people than the Iraqis. You will be embarrassed by their hospitality even though they have nothing. Don't treat them as refugees for they are in their own country. Their children will be poor, in years to come they will know that the light of liberation in their lives was brought by you.

"If there are casualties of war then remember that when they woke up and got dressed in the morning they did not plan to die this day. Allow them dignity in death. Bury them properly and mark their graves.

"It is my foremost intention to bring every single one of you out alive but there may be people among us who will not see the end of this campaign. We will put them in their sleeping bags and send them back. There will be no time for sorrow.

"The enemy should be in no doubt that we are his nemesis and that we are bringing about his rightful destruction. There are many regional commanders who have stains on their souls and they are stoking the fires of hell for Saddam. He and his forces will be destroyed by this coalition for what they have done. As they die they will know their deeds have brought them to this place. Show them no pity.

"It is a big step to take another human life. It is not to be done lightly. I know of men who have taken life needlessly in other conflicts, I can assure you they live with the mark of Cain upon them. If someone surrenders to you then remember they have that right in international law and ensure that one day they go home to their family.

"The ones who wish to fight, well, we aim to please.

"If you harm the regiment or its history by over-enthusiasm in killing or in cowardice, know it is your family who will suffer. You will be shunned unless your conduct is of the highest for your deeds will follow you down through history. We will bring shame on neither our uniform or our nation.

"[Regarding the use by Saddam of chemical or biological weapons] It is not a question of if, it's a question of when. We know he has already devolved the decision to lower commanders, and that means he has already taken the decision himself. If we survive the first strike we will survive the attack.

"As for ourselves, let's bring everyone home and leave Iraq a better place for us having been there.

"Our business now is north."

Your current president has hada copy of this placed within the oval office of the White House.
 
I belive that it was General Patton who said this. "You don't win a war by dieing for your country, you win a war by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his." this is probally my most favorite quote
 
I wanna be a Marine so these are pretty much all about them. I like their personalities. I know its long but they have a lot of good quotes and some of them are funny. SEMPER FI!

Pearl Harbour Radio Operator: "Is there anything that we can provide?"
Response from Marine Commander on Wake Island: "Send us more Japs!"
.... Said to be one of the last radio transmissions received from the Marines on Wake Island before it fell to the Japanese, 1941.



"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle."
- General Pershing, U.S. Army



"Why the hell can't the Army do it if the Marines can; they are all the same kind of men...
why can't the Army be like the Marines?"
- Commander-in-Chief, AEF General J. Pershing, U.S. Army


"You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that
they are the most ferocious fighters on earth- and the amusing thing about it is that they are."
- Father Kevin Keaney, 1st MarDiv Chaplain, Korean War



"By their victory, the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the Fifth Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully. Among the American who served on Iwo Island, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
- Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S. Navy



"Remember, whatever you write, this was no retreat. All that happened was that we found
more Chinese behind us than in front of us, so we about-faced and attacked."
- Chesty Puller, USMC, speaking to reporters after the battle out of the Chosin Reservoir, Korean War


"I have only two out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold."
- 1stLt Clifton B. Cates, USMC, 96th Co., Soissons, 19 July 1918


"Come on, you sons of bitches! Do you want to live forever?"
- Sergeant Dan Daly leading his Marines forward against German troops at the Battle of Belleau Wood, World War


"They're on our right, they're on our left, they're in front of us, they're behind us;
they can't get away from us this time."
- Chesty Puller, USMC, Chosin Reservoir, Korean War


"Casualties many; Percentage of dead not known; Combat efficiency; we are winning."
- Colonel David M. Shoup, USMC, Tarawa, 21 November 1943


"The bended knee is not a tradition of our Corps."
- General Alexander A. Vandergrift, USMC, to the Senate Naval Affairs Committee, 5 May 1946


"Retreat, hell! We just got here."
- Capt Lloyd Williams at the Battle of Belleau Wood


" We're surrounded, that simplifies the problem."
Chesty Puller at Chosin Reservoir

When an Army captain asked him for the direction of the line of retreat, Col Puller called his artillerymen, gave them the Army position, and ordered: "If they start to pull back from that line, even one foot, I want you to open fire on them." Turning to the captain, he replied "Does that answer your question? We're here to fight." At Koto-ri in Korea
- Chesty Puller at Koto-ri in Korea

"The mail service has been excellent out here, and in my opinion this is all that the
Air Force has accomplished during the war."
- Chesty Puller in a letter to his wife while in Korea


"Don't forget that you're First Marines! Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you!"
- Chesty Puller motivating his men at Chosin Reservoir


"Do not attack the First Marine Division. Leave the yellowlegs alone. Strike the American Army."
- Orders given to Communist troops in the Korean War; shortly afterward, the Marines were ordered to not wear their khaki leggings to keep the enemy from immediately fleeing


"Panic sweeps my men when they are facing the American Marines!"
- Captured North Korean Major


"They told our perimeter guard to open up or we'll blow you away and then they looked up and saw the Marines on the roof with these really big guns and they said in Somali, 'Igaralli ahow,' which means, 'Excuse me, I didn't mean it, my mistake.'"
- Karen Aguilar, U.S. Embassy, Mogadishu, Somalia, 1991
 
"You will try! You are not Dancing girls from Stockholm but Finnish soldiers!"

- an unidentified Finnish Airborne 1st LT. yelling to the airborne privates who were really TRYING to literally crawl back from their first march. (Very few make it back walking, I hear. I saw it only once. A sad sight of men taken to their limits.)
 
Howdy, Tank. How about heading over to the Welcoming Center and introducing yourself. I'm also afraid that we're going to need you to change your name to exclude "General" as per the forum rules. Send Redleg a PM with your new name choice. Thank you for your cooperation.
 
Mortui non mordent (The dead do not bite) - Roman Poverb

"I have not yet begun to fight!" - Captain John Paul Jones

"Know your enemy and know yourself and you need not fear the test of 100 battles" - Sun Tzu (slight paraphrase on my part)

"Go For Broke!" - motto of the 442nd US Infantry Regiment
 
"Soldiers on point for the nation...persuasive in peace, invincible in war"
-Gen Shinseki

"There are 7 P's to any military operation! Proper Previous Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance!"
-Richard Marcinko, founder of Seal Team 6

"dismissed"
-many First Shirts and CO's
 
“If you're in a war, instead of throwing a hand grenade at the enemy, throw one of those small pumpkins. Maybe it'll make everyone think how stupid war is, and while they are thinking, you can throw a real grenade at them.”
-Jack Handey
 
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference, and our Marines don't have that problem."
- President Ronald Reagan, 1985

or
"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price."
- Sun Zi

or
"Onward we stagger, and if the tanks come, may God help the tanks."
- Col. William O. Darby, U.S. Rangers

or (last one)
"People sleep peacably at night in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
- George Orwell


The first one is my favorite, but the other three are good, too.
 
The best quote in the world.

The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies. To drive them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears and to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.

Genghis Khan

:rambo:
 
This isn't military but I love it anyway.

Let me win, but if I can not win, let me be brave in the attempt.

That's the pledge of the athletes of the special olympics, and if you think about it, they are soliders with a cause too. HOOOAH!
 
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