Etgar Keret Quotes

My experience on 'Jarhead' was life changing.

The Vietnam War totally turned my life around. Some people's lives were eliminated or destroyed by the experience. I was one of the fortunate few who came out better off.

I was drafted into the Army when I was 19 and came out at age 22. Most people that I knew didn't think they'd come home alive. I didn't think I would either, so I was happy when I did.

I was away from the front lines for a while this spring, living with other troops, and considerable fighting took place while I was gone. When I got ready to return to my old friends at the front I wondered if I would sense any change in them.

In 1967, I signed up for the Army, where I earned an equivalency diploma, then went on to join the Special Forces. That was really was the turning point in my life. I became more disciplined and focused. I went overseas and was in combat, got wounded a couple of times, lost a lot of good friends but matured a great deal.

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.

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

Over a period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that Youth Care would lock me up. It was all a frightening and traumatic experience. So often, these terrible memories come to me. I can't ignore them.

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.

I was in the Navy and saw, first-hand, the effects of front-line combat.

The notion that war forever separates veterans from the rest of mankind has been long embedded in our collective consciousness.

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

The is an intensity of anxiety here greater than I ever saw during the [Civil] war.

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

Vietnam was my nightmare for a good ten years.

There's nothing glorious about combat. I've been there and done that.

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

You know, I had gone to war.

I've stopped war reporting. I realized that I'd answered all of my questions about war and about myself.

The real effect of the WTC calamity has been depressed spirits, anxiety, and uncertainty among publishers, and of course those emotions are not restricted to publishers.

My Marine experience helped shape who I am now personally and professionally, and I am grateful for that on an almost daily basis.

I think my biggest focus for myself is learning how to continue to get through the trauma that my father has caused in my life.

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.