Random Marine Corps Quotes

"I can't say enough about the two Marine divisions. If I use words like brilliant, it would really be an under-description of the absolutely superb job they did in breaching the so-called impenetrable barrier. . .Absolutely superb operation, a textbook, and I think it'll be studied for many, many years to come as the way to do it." - General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 27 February 1991.

“If officers desire to have control over their commands, they must remain habitually with them, industriously attend to their instruction and comfort, and in battle lead them well.”  ~ Lt. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson, 1861

"We have two companies of Marines running rampant all over the northern half of this island, and three Army regiments pinned down in the southwestern corner, doing nothing. What the hell is going on?" ~ Gen. John W. Vessey Jr., USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the assault on Grenada, 1983

"Retreat, hell we just got here!" ~ Captain Lloyd Williams, USMC at the Battle of Belleau Wood WWI

 

For a split second I was fearful because I knew I wasn't going to survive, but then I was OK because at least I was going out with a bang.

— Cpl Kyle Carpenter - MOH - answer to question "What's the moment that you feel most fearful on the battlefield and how did you overcome that" 06/16/2014

 

“Success in battle is not a function of how many show up, but who they are.” ~ 27th Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert H. Barrow

“I’ll never forget them or their spirit. Those boys were burned and bruised. But I never saw a Marine who was beaten.” ~ Navy Flight Nurse Norma Crotty, Iwo Jima

"A Marine on duty has no friends." ~ Marine Corps proverb

"I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world!" ~ General Douglas MacArthur, US Army

"Marines are about the most peculiar breed of human beings I have ever witnessed. They treat their service as if it was some kind of cult, plastering their emblem on almost everything they own, making themselves up to look like insane fanatics with haircuts to ungentlemanly lengths, worshipping their Commandant almost as if he was a god, and making weird animal noises like a band of savages. They'll fight like rabid dogs at the drop of a hat just for the sake of a little action, and are the cockiest SOB's I have ever known. Most have the foulest mouths and drink well beyond man's normal limits, but their high spirits and sense of brotherhood set them apart and , generally speaking, of the United States Marines I've come in contact with, are the most professional soldiers and the finest men I have had the pleasure to meet."
~ An Anonymous Canadian Citizen