Eric Greitens Quotes

There's a graveyard in northern France where all the dead boys from D-Day are buried. The white crosses reach from one horizon to the other. I remember looking it over and thinking it was a forest of graves. But the rows were like this, dizzying, diagonal, perfectly straight, so after all it wasn't a forest but an orchard of graves. Nothing to do with nature, unless you count human nature.

The [Vietnam War Memorial] Wall became a magnet for citizens of every generation, class, race, and relationship to the war perhaps because it is the only great public monument that allows the anesthetized holes in the heart to fill with a truly national grief.

Every honor is appropriate for the courageous Americans who made the supreme sacrifice for our Nation at Pearl Harbor and in the many battles that followed in World War II. Their sacrifice was for a cause, not for conquest; for a world that would be safe for future generations. Their devotion must never be forgotten.

My father and all my uncles on both sides served in the military in World War II and Korea.

It was a requirement by the veterans to list the 57,000 names. We're reaching a time that we'll acknowledge the individual in a war on a national level.

In my grandfather's day, there was a different perspective on war and men that went into war; it was such a patriotic act to fight for your country in the Forties.

What was accomplished in 'Band of Brothers' was incredible, from the writing and producing to the performances of the actors who honored all those men that fought bravely and gave the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy today.

My grandfather was in World War II and fought in Europe in Army Infantry, so I have such a huge respect for him, and he's shared some personal experiences with me.

I have two brothers buried in the military cemetery in Texas. I don't want to see any more of that.

I went to study at Oxford University in the 1980s on an imperial scholarship instituted by Cecil Rhodes.

I remember saying goodbye to my father the night he left to join the Navy. He didn't have to. He was older than other servicemen and had a family to support but he wanted to be a part of the fight against fascism, not just make movies about it. I admired this about him.

I have gone through so many examinations of what a hero is, between the World War II stuff and the astronaut stuff.

After the Second World War, people in Japan no longer died for their country, and even that expression was no longer used.

If I can just see the European war out I think I might feel justified in quitting the war.

I'm a big supporter of the military simply because I'm the daughter of a Polish immigrant who fled Europe during World War II from Poland and lied about his age to join the Army simply because he was proud to be an American. And who isn't?

I had seen the films out of World War II, the great 82nd Airborne, the 101st, and all of those of you in the greatest generation and the service that you had provided.

I had two family members involved in World War I: two great-uncles. One of them is on a memorial in France. And the other was a trench runner who survived the war. The average life span of a trench runner was 36 hours, but he survived the whole war.

I made 'Saving Private Ryan' for my father. He's the one who filled my head with war stories when I was growing up.

Dad's funeral was standing room only; most in attendance were strangers to me. At the back, a lone Marine stood silently, then left. People told me he'd saved their life or helped them in their darkest hour.

Oxford has a slightly mythical rep, particularly for people who haven't been there.

The Vietnam memorial is a masterpiece. The names of the dead are listed there, chronologically. Just the names.

Avenge Pearl Harbor! : Join the navy now!

You aren’t quite serious in America yet. You haven’t got the war right under your chins.

None of the Americans I spoke to want to nominate their sons for the Unknown Soldier.

When you go home, tell them of us and say, “For tomorrow these gave their today.”