Military Sacrifice Quotes

I don't run democracy. I train troops to defend democracy and I happen to be their surrogate father and mother as well as their commanding general.

I got active in this business of politics and self-government in 1958 when my father, who was serving in the U.S. Army, took us to the battlefield of Verdun.

My stepdaughter, who is based in Alaska right now, is a brand-new lieutenant in the Army. She could be deployed in 18 months. And another stepdaughter is a physician for the VA.

We owe it to our troops to make policy that strengthens America now and in the future.

Less than one percent of our population is fighting our country’s wars, so the promises we make to our soldiers must be kept

Anyone who has ever looked into the glazed eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield will think hard before starting a war.

Our generals talk a good game about taking care of their grunts, and the majority of our Beltway politicians bay with moralistic fervor about how they, too, support the troops.

I have served in the Congress during two wars and I have seen the impacts on our military, on their families and on our national deficit.

I do not personally regard the whole of the remaining cities of Germany as worth the bones of one British Grenadier.

I have a pretty amazing life. Even back-to-back deployments - Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Turkey - it's still pretty rewarding.

The warriors that fought for their country, and bled, Have sunk to their rest; the damp earth is their bed; No stone tells the place where their ashes repose, Nor points out the spot from the graves of their foes. They died in their glory, surrounded by fame, And Victory's loud trump their death did proclaim; They are dead; but they live in each Patriot's breast, And their names are engraven on honor's bright crest.

Both my grandfathers were in the Navy, and I have cousins and uncles in the military, so it's something that I've always respected.

You believe you are dying for the fatherland—you die for some industrialist.

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

Dammit Governor, it was the Tennesseans who made Texas. They volunteered and gave their lives at the Alamo for Texas and now that Tennessee needs some help from Texas, your advisors are telling you to turn your back on the descendants of the heroes of the Alamo.

Why not grant a moratorium to those who sustain this Nation in time of peace and fight its battles in time of war?

My father served 26 years in the Air Force as a pilot and a pioneer in our missile programs. I learned early about the sacrifices a family makes when a member is repeatedly deployed, and also the fulfillment that comes from serving our country. My brother, my son and I all became Marines.

The pinning on of stars reaches its full cynical significance when sanctified valor and bereaved families are used to lend dignity to wars stupidly fought. The courageous and their families are drawn into a circular trap. The sacrificed soldier was valorous under the orders of a commander who has rewarded his effort. The battle was therefore worth fighting. Courage made it worthwhile. The basic rule of war - that it is fought to be won --- has been forgotten.

I call on God Almighty to have mercy on the German people. More than two million German soldiers went to their death for the fatherland before me. I follow now my sons - all for Germany.

America is unique in the history of the world. During this last century, there was only one nation that laid down hundreds of thousands of lives of its own sons and daughters and asked for nothing for itself …. America is unique. You took no land from the Germans, no land from the Japanese. All you asked for was enough land to bury your dead.

This does not mean that you are warmongers. On the contrary, the soldier above all other people prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. But always in our ears ring the ominous words of Plato, that wisest of all philosophers: "Only the dead have seen the end of war.

There's a tendency to look at anybody who joined the military as if they underwrote everything that happened policy-wise. That's not really the case. I have a friend who both protested the Iraq War and joined the military, and ended up serving two deployments in Afghanistan.

Of course, I think it is legitimate for the Commander-in-Chief to be concerned for the safety of his soldiers.

The people who are sending our men and women in uniform into conflict need to understand that there are some things worth fighting for, but also understand the high cost of war.

No man wants more war if he's planned memorial services for fallen comrades, carried their flag-draped caskets off a plane, and buried them at Arlington National Cemetery.