Phil Klay Quotes

As a combat veteran, I know the cost of war.

As a veteran, I know firsthand the satisfaction there is in defending the democracy you so strongly believe in, but I can also attest to the trauma encountered from combat on the battlefield.

I was interested in the war part of 'Star Wars,' so I started reading about what it's like to go to war, what that does to you psychically, about the adrenaline and the rush.

I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can.

No one hates war like a soldier hates war.

You come back from war, and you have a certain authority to talk about war.

War was my university. Everything has proceeded from there.

The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war.

Nobody hates a war more than soldiers who have been through it.

As a Korean War veteran, I know firsthand and understand the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform.

Let it be remembered, too, that at a time of war, nearly every one is under great strain.

When I first came back from Iraq, I of course found myself thinking a lot about it. Not just my experiences, but those of people I talked to, friends, and colleagues.

I'm a Vietnam veteran. I was here when there was no public support, not just for the effort in Vietnam, for the mission in Vietnam, but for our men and women in uniform.

I talked to some vets in L.A. about what they go through and do they think about their experiences a lot. I got a wide array of answers. Some people get very emotional, which is understandable. Two of my best friends growing up are in the armed services, and getting to represent those guys was a big honor for me.

I carry the memories of the ghosts of a place called Vietnam - the people of Vietnam, my fellow soldiers.

My experience on 'Jarhead' was life changing.

I was drafted when I was 17, and I spent two years, and I lost a friend in war.

Vietnam was my nightmare for a good ten years.

The most powerful Vietnam movie, to me, was 'The Deer Hunter,' which was more about what happened to the folks who went and about their relationships.

My own life changed when my father returned from his second combat tour in Vietnam. When he came home after almost a year in Army hospitals, he weighed less than half of what he did when he left. I watched the agonizing recovery, and that experience was on my mind when I was asked to come to VA.

It's very hard to argue with the politics of 'Black Watch,' because it is not an opinion; it is just the true stories of these boys, and any opinions expressed are theirs.

I didn't see conflict during the Vietnam War, but I did lose close friends.

War is hell. Sending young people to conflicts that are unwinnable and unresolvable - it puts them in a position where they're going to suffer. And yet their experience is that they're proud of their service, and they should be. Service freely rendered is a noble thing.

You know, I had gone to war.

I think it is a mistake to focus - as we most often do - only on the sacrifice of life that war requires. War also requires that we sacrifice our normal unwillingness to kill.