William Manchester Quotes

As young West Point cadets, our motto was 'duty, honor, country.' But it was in the field, from the rice paddies of Southeast Asia to the sands of the Middle East, that I learned that motto's fullest meaning. There I saw gallant young Americans of every race, creed and background fight, and sometimes die, for 'duty, honor, and their country.'

These guys that were standing up to fight, for the most part, had pride in their country, and they wanted to do the best, and they wanted to go out and fight, and I was as close to these Afghans as I was to the Marines.

If you speak to any soldier, even now, they say they are fighting for their friends. It always ends up that they're fighting for the man next to them.

They died hard, those savage men - like wounded wolves at bay. They were filthy, and they were lousy, and they stunk. And I loved them.

Here's a news flash: No soldier gives his life. That's not the way it works. Most soldiers who make a conscious decision to place themselves in harm's way do it to protect their buddies. They do it because of the bonds of friendship - and it goes so much deeper than friendship.

Contrary to what most of Hollywood will tell you, the men and women of our armed forces are the best among us. Not only because of how they serve, but because they are able to find the best in each other... And they are able to encapsulate the best in all of us.

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.

We are acknowledging the close personal nature of our 10 years at war and the strong bonds of fidelity that Marines have for one another, especially for those fellow Marines who we have lost.

Men, today we die a little.

There is no glory in war, yet from the blackness of its history, there emerge vivid colours of human character and courage. Those who risked their lives to help their friends.

I am not a hero but the brave men who died deserved this honor.

If we are marked to die, we are enough to do our country loss; and if to live, the fewer men, the greater share of honor.

Years go by, but the heart of what we all fight and die for at the core is the same. We fight and die for love and our family and our land and for what's ours. We do things for something as simple as pride.

God bless the Union; - it is dearer to us for the blood of brave men which has been shed in its defence.

Look, many of us here are regular marines... I will die as a marine because that is my dream.

I would not trade you a billion dollars for the kids I led to combat in Vietnam or in fact any of the Marines that I served with for a quarter of a century.

The heart and soul of a Navy SEAL is somebody who's committed to their country and committed to their teammates.

Most of the courage shown in the war came from men’s understanding of their interdependence on each other. We must have that unity.

Men ... do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another.

Men do things for other men in war that they would never do in peace.

I just love the Corps. I love the brotherhood, the camaraderie. I thank anyone in uniform who serves their fellow man. I love this country for so many reasons. We have such a great country here, and it's worth defending, and it's worth sacrificing for.

Renoir had a strong feeling about his fellow soldiers. He'd never disrespect them by putting the war down.

From the depths of the Pacific to the deserts of Iraq, more than a million American soldiers, Airmen, midshipmen, and Marines have laid down their lives for their friends, their families and our nation.

Once you share a ring with someone, go to war with someone... you have a different type of respect for someone.

I wasn't going to leave my men, and they were going to protect me.