Quotes & Sayings About Marines

The teenagers who had signed up to be Lookouts loved hustling in the cold, pretending they were marines on a black op. Most of them had been preparing for postapocalyptic stealth missions since they were old enough to pick up an Xbox controller. Father — Joe Hill

Like a battalion of marines at roll call, her neck hairs marshaled to five-alarm status. She stumbled back to her desk, jerked open the botton drawer, retrieved a pair of Nighthawk binoculars, fixed the scopes on him, and fiddled with the focus. Gotcha. Hair the colour of coal. Chocolate brown eyes. A five-o'clock shadow ringing his craggy jawline. Handsome as the day was long ...
He sauntered towards her, oozing charisma from every pore. Charlee forgot to breathe. And then he committed the gravest sin of all, knocking her world helter-skelter. The scoundrel smiled. — Lori Wilde

Most dramatically, the Bridge served as an agonizing or exhilarating psychological symbol for the more than 1.2 million servicemen and women who sailed beneath it during World War II and for those soldiers and Marines who saw it from the air as their chartered World Airways or Flying Tiger plane took off from the Oakland Airport, banked westward across both bridges, and headed to Vietnam. Seen upon departure, whether from the channel or the air, the Golden Gate Bridge expressed the life left behind and the fearsome dangers to come. Seen upon return, the Bridge suggested safe harbor, recovery, the joy of life in years that now would be theirs. — Kevin Starr

November 1775, when our Founding Fathers ". . .resolved, that two Battalions of Marines be raised. . .[and]. . .that particular care be taken that no person be appointed or enlisted into said Battalions, but such as are good seamen or so acquainted with maritime affairs as are able to serve to advantage by sea, — Tom Clancy

Dad mistook - for some reason unbeknownst to me - he mistook his family for a platoon of Marines. I mean, he - the exact same thing he brought to the disciplining of a squadron, a battalion, a platoon, he brought to the disciplining of his children. He ran the house - he had Saturday morning inspections for us, he had white-glove inspections for us as kids. — Terry Gross

Her tactics are brutal. The Marines could employ her. — Katie McGarry

For over 221 years our Corps has done two things for this great Nation. We make Marines, and we win battles. — Charles C. Krulak

Hardness," I was learning, was the supreme virtue among recon Marines. The greatest compliment one could pay to another was to say he was hard. Hardness wasn't toughness, nor was it courage, although both were part of it. Hardness was the ability to face an overwhelming situation with aplomb, smile calmly at it, and then triumph through sheer professional pride. — Nathaniel Fick

But they are many and he is alone.
This has not come to pass yet, he thinks, this is not happening. I am not dying. This is my fate, what shall be. This is the future, it has not happened yet. — John French

I always wanted to go into the military or something like that - my whole family, all my friends are either Air Force, Navy, or Marines. — RJ Mitte

Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum. — Gregory Boyington

If you ever land in a situation you can't handle, call me." She let out a raspy laugh. "And you'll what? Ride in on your white horse and save me? From Afghanistan? Or Iraq? Or wherever else they're sending recently enlisted marines these days?" "Call, email, or send a letter. Hell, send a carrier pigeon. I don't care how you get in touch, or where I am. If you need me, I'll find a way to help. It doesn't matter where I am or what I'm doing. You're like family to me, Josie. And I'm always here for you." "Like family?" She raised an eyebrow. "So you're doing this for Dominic? Because my brother is your BFF?" "No, I'm doing this because I care about you," he growled. She — Sara Jane Stone

During Basic, sometimes you're so tired you can't even get up to piss. You're pushed beyond whatever limits you had set for yourself. You realize that your body can do things that you never imagined. But there are times when you don't think you can go on, and that's when your brother is there to lift you up and push you forward. He yells encouragement when the drill sergeant's yelling obscenities. You know that if you're ever caught by the enemy, your brothers will never stop looking for you. If you're hurt they'll help heal you. The Corps is a unit of many, not one, but dozens, thousands even, who have your back. You can smite one Marine, but a thousand will rose up to avenge him. — Jen Frederick

Erin eventually put in a call to one of the Crows who worked as an executive at a bank. She told her to set up a business account for Kera's "nonprofit thing. I don't know. Something with dogs and Marines. No. Not porn." Erin glanced at her. "Right? Not porn."
Kera stared at the woman for several long seconds before replying, "No. Not porn. — G.A. Aiken

Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines. — Ronald Reagan

The problem was that Panama technically belonged to Colombia, which refused to sign a treaty leasing it to the United States. So Roosevelt sent a gunboat filled with marines down to Panama, just on the off chance that a revolution might suddenly break out, and darned if one didn't, two days later. Not only that, but the leaders of the new nation of Panama-talk about lucky breaks!-were absolutely thrilled to have the United States build a canal there. 'Really, it's our pleasure,' they told the marines, adding, 'Don't shoot.' — Dave Barry

Marines are very good at fighting ... And if Gen. Franks wants fighters on the ground and he puts Marines in, he'll have what he wants. — Peter Pace

I went straight from the Marine Corps to the MFA. The way that you would express things among Marines is somewhat different than the way you're supposed to express things in a creative-writing workshop. — Phil Klay

The soldier is the Army. No army is better than its soldiers. The Soldier is also a citizen. In fact, the highest obligation and privilege of citizenship is that of bearing arms for one's country — George S. Patton Jr.

There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight ... Let them tell that to the Marines! — Franklin D. Roosevelt

Between 1831 and 1891, US armed forces - usually the Marines - invaded Mexico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Brazil, Haiti, Argentina, and Chile a total of thirty-one times, a fact not many of us are informed about in school. The Marines intermittently occupied Nicaragua form 1909 to 1933, Mexico from 1914 to 1919, and Panama from 1903 to 1914. To 'restore order' the Marines occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934, killing over two thousand Haitians who resisted 'pacification.' — Michael Parenti

It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don't regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn't save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I'm not naive, and I don't romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job. — Chris Kyle

I still need Marines who can shoot and salute. But I need Marines who can fix jet engines and man sophisticated radar sets, as well. — Robert E. Cushman Jr.

The global aid community is mobilised into fighting drought in a district that gets 1,500 mm of rainfall annually. The reverse spiral begins. Donor governments love emergency relief. It forms a negligible part of their spending, but makes for great advertising. (Emergencies of many sorts do this, not just drought. You can run television footage of the Marines kissing babies in Somalia.) There are more serious issues between rich and poor nations - like unequal trade. Settling those would be of greater help to the latter. But for that, the 'donors' would have to part with something for real. No. They prefer emergency relief. — P.Sainath

My parents were divorced and my dad was in the Marines. I lived in California until I was 10 then we moved to Bettendorf, Iowa when I was in the fourth grade. I had an older brother so it made it a little easier to adjust to things. — Robbie Lawler

Marines die, that's what we're here for. But the Marine Corps lives forever. And that means YOU live forever. — Phil Hartman

You always hear all these statements like "Freedom isn't free." You hear the President talking about all these people making sacrifices. But you never really know until you carry one of them in a casket. When you feel their bodyweight. When you feel them. That's when you know. That's when you understand. — Jim Sheeler

Great Marine commanders, like all great warriors, are able to kill that which they love most -- their men. — Nathaniel Fick

Whether black or white, male or female, active or reserve, gay, bisexual, or straight, we are all Marines. What we share in common goes deeper than any superficial differences. — S.J.D. Peterson

To change one's field of influence is to change the course of one's life. — Jenny Reese Clark

If you're coming from America to Iraq, then how are you supposed to be objective? I mean, you could pay lip service to being objective, but how are you going to objective when you're embedded with the Marines? The Marines are saving your life every day and they're protecting you. — Shane Smith

I can't say that dropping out of school at 16 to join the Marines was my best idea. On the other hand, maybe it was. Who knows? — Daniel Woodrell

Infantry Marines live only and forever in the real world. — Nathaniel Fick

Raiden deciding to serve our country and doing it by joining the baddest of the badasses, as everyone knew the Marines were. — Kristen Ashley

Since 1775 the United States Marines have upheld a fine tradition of service to their country. They are doing so today. I am confident they will continue to do so. — Franklin D. Roosevelt

We've been at war for 10 years with this generation of Marines. We've seen women do a whole lot of things between the war in Iraq and the current war in Afghanistan. The fact that I'm sitting here making sure that we continue to put out the best young Marines is just a matter of it being 2011. — Loretta Reynolds

The new Congress needs to move quickly to strengthen the Army and Marines - not to send more troops to Iraq - but to rebuild our capacity to meet national security threats globally. — Mark Udall

My name is Parker Black. I sometimes work as BlackDawn. My employer is Titan, and my training is from both the Marines and MIT." "I know." "But you don't know what that means. I will kill to protect you. I will hunt what follows you," he said through clenched teeth. "I will seek out anything that has its sights on you, and I will destroy it. I'm not a muscle hound with a hard-on for electronics. I'm a mercenary for the good guys, an analyst of life-and-death situations, and I will, I swear to Christ, maim, harm, and kill anything that wants what I care about. — Cristin Harber

From the Battle of Trenton to the Argonne, Marines have won foremost honors in war, and in the long eras of tranquility at home, generation after generation of Marines have grown gray in war in both hemispheres and in every corner of the seven seas, that our country and its citizens might enjoy peace and security. — John A. Lejeune

For over 220 years, Marines have served at the end of America's operational reach - on freedom's far frontiers. These Marines are the backbone of the ARG/MEU (SOC) team, our regional commanders' force of choice for both forward presence and crisis response. — Tom Clancy

Sergeant Bellow marched us to the quartermaster's. It was there we were stripped of all vestiges of personality. It is the quartermasters who make soldiers, sailors and marines. In their presence, one strips down. With each divestment, a trait is lost; the discard of a garment marks the quiet death of an idiosyncrasy. I take off my socks; gone is a propensity for stripes, or clocks, or checks, or even solids; ended is a tendency to combine purple socks with brown tie. My socks henceforth will be tan. They will neither be soiled, nor rolled, nor gaudy, nor restrained, nor holey. They will be tan. The only other thing they may be is clean. — Robert Leckie

Your Marines having been under my command for nearly six months, I feel that I can give you a discriminating report as to their excellent standing with their brothers of the army and their general good conduct. — John J. Pershing

Marines I see as two breeds, Rottweilers or Dobermans, because Marines come in two varieties, big and mean, or skinny and mean. They're aggressive on the attack and tenacious on defense. They've got really short hair and they always go for the throat. — Rodney Stark

A lot of the great pieces of journalism from Iraq showed how important command influence was in violent, aggressive environments, where Marines and soldiers had a constrained set of choices to make in sudden moments. — Phil Klay

I entirely approve the measures proposed by you in relation to the Marines who are lately captives in Tripoli. Therefore execute them. — Robert Smith

The Marines don't have any race problems. They treat everybody like they're black. — Daniel James Jr.

I got to travel around Anbar Province, had a great group of Marines who worked for me who traveled around Anbar Province. I got to hang out with a lot of different types of Marines and soldiers and sailors. — Phil Klay

MY REGRETS ARE ABOUT THE PEOPLE I COULDN'T SAVE - Marines, soldiers, my buddies. I still feel their loss. I still ache for my failure to protect them. — Chris Kyle

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

Alyssa couldn't tear her gaze from him as the firelight played over the hard edges of him. Once he'd been the poster boy for clean-cut military, now he'd gone all tatted up sexy danger. — Jennifer Apodaca

Times may change, but I guess cowboys don't. — Victoria Vane

What would we say if the Chinese sent a gunboat with their marines up the Mississippi River claiming they were protecting their laundries in Memphis? — Will Rogers

In my experience, Marines are gung ho no matter what. They will all fight to the death. Everyone of them just wants to get out there and kill. They are bad-ass, hard-charging mothers. — Chris Kyle

I can see the little girl, the face of the little girl. And as much as people say that they don't care about these people and all that, I don't care about these people - but I do, at the same time, if that makes any sense. They don't want to help themselves, they're blowing us up, yeah, that hurts, but it also hurts to know that I've seen a girl that's as old as my little brother watch me shoot somebody in the head. And I don't care if she's Iraqi, Korean, African, white - she's still a little girl. And she watched me shoot somebody. — David Finkel

You may hate the war, but never hate the ones that fight. For they do not choose when or where to fight. All they chose was to protect who they love and even the people they don't know. — Millie

Do we expect a fight, Gunnery Sergeant?" "We always expect a fight, Private Kichar. We're Marines; it's what we do. — Tanya Huff

No men and women could be expected to do what you have done, let alone more. But you are Marines first, and men and women second. — Jay Allan

Rather than inserting more Marines and engineers to harden and defend the American Embassy - thus sending an unequivocal message that such an assault against American sovereign territory in the heart of Tehran would never be tolerated again - the bureaucrats back at the White House and State Department had panicked. They'd reduced the embassy's staff from nearly a thousand to barely sixty. The Pentagon had shown a similar lack of resolve. The number of U.S. military forces in-country had been drawn down from about ten thousand active-duty troops to almost none. The only reason Charlie had been sent in - especially as green as he was - was because he happened to be one of the few men in the entire U.S. diplomatic corps who was actually fluent in Farsi. None of the three CIA guys on site even spoke the language. — Joel C. Rosenberg

The legislature have anxiously provided for those most useful and deserving body of men, the seamen and marines of this country. — Sherrilyn Kenyon

It's being made out that the whole point of the war was to topple the Taliban regime and liberate Afghan women from their burqas, we are being asked to believe that the U.S. marines are actually on a feminist mission. — Arundhati Roy

A Marine likes a good fight and respects a good fighter. You've got yourself one fine Marine for an escort and the whole Marine Corps behind you. — Bud Rudesill

The Marines are like my West Highland Terrier. They get up every morning, they want to dig a hole, and they want to kill something. — Thomas P.M. Barnett

Every time a boy falls off a tricycle, every time a black cat has gray kittens, every time someone stubs a toe, every time there's a murder or a fire or the marines land in Nicaragua, the police and the newspapers holler 'get Capone.' — Al Capone

You make it sound so simple." "Well, it's war; it's not rocket science." Then the memory of what had once been accomplished by three Marines with a surface-to-air missile launcher, a game chip, and the guts from a field kitchen twisted her mouth into a grin. "Usually," she repeated. — Tanya Huff

I came from a family of Marines into the family of Marines. — Jim Lehrer

Get off your butt and join the Marines! — John Wayne

Tell that to the marines - the sailors won't believe it. — Walter Scott

Thing to know about the Reaches....It's always trying to kill you. Even the empty places between the stars."
Asher Corsair, Allies and Enemies: Rogues — Amy J. Murphy

If you ask me why I've succeeded, it's because I was in the Royal Marines. You have this unbelievable sense of achievement and of overcoming adversity. That's the confidence it breeds. — Brian McDermott

They love us everywhere we go. So when in doubt, send the Marines. — Tom Lehrer

Anytime you're going to take your Marines into harm's way, they are looking for leadership that is calm, assertive, sure of themselves. And quite honestly, I don't think that some of these young Marines care if it's a male or a female. They just want to be properly led. — Loretta Reynolds

Grunts were perhaps the only group of Americans to ever experience complete racial equality. Equal opportunity death has a way of rendering racial differences insignificant. Bush Marines who were black were torn between loyalties to their grunt buddies, and racial solidarity demanded by rear blacks. They were called Uncle Tom for even talking to us. It was a test of their integrity, but very seldom did any give in. — Jeff Kelly

I should deem a man-of-war incomplete without a body of Marines ... imbued with that esprit that has so long characterized the "Old Corps." — Joshua R. Sands

You want to know who's now running the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and the Marines and calling the shots where it counts? Fundamentalist Muslims and homosexual activists. — Bryan Fischer

Rig shook his head, sighed, and headed toward the kitchen. Hank come fetch your wife. She's leaking all over one of my marines. They're not fucking wash-and-wear. — Sean Michael

Hopefully one day Wars will only be fought in movies. And may the best producer win! — Stanley Victor Paskavich

All Marines, sailors and civilian Marines, regardless of sexual orientation, are Marines first. Every Marine is a valued member of our war-fighting team. — James F. Amos

There's no such thing as an ex-marine. — EX-MARINES

I was given an opportunity to join the marines instead of go to jail - and I think I made the correct decision. — Huey Morgan

I joined the Marines the week I turned 17, and that led to a few experiences that might qualify as adventure - eye of the beholder. — Daniel Woodrell

Let men express the intense admiration, which I share with all other Americans, of the record made by the Marines. — Theodore Roosevelt

If the Marines are abolished half the efficiency of the Navy will be destroyed. They are as necessary to the well being of a ship as the officers. Instead of decreasing the Corps, I would rather hope to see a large increase, for we feel the want of Marines very much. — David Dixon Porter

If we're going to spend more money, it should go to the soldiers, Marines, and airmen to increase their salaries. — David Hunt

I did plays in high school, but I was convinced you couldn't make a living doing it. You don't have a lot of options in Indiana anyway, though, so I didn't want to stay there. I graduated early and worked a bunch of really odd jobs, and then I joined the Marines. — Adam Driver

Our judgement is that the presence of the Royal Marines garrison is sufficient deterrent against any possible aggression. — Margaret Thatcher

The marines gave me an eternal discipline. — Huey Morgan

You find surprising things about the privite life of a country when you invide it — Evan Wright

Be kindly and just in your dealings with your men. Never play favorites. Make them feel that justice tempered with mercy may always be counted on. This does not mean a slackening of discipline. Obedience to orders and regulations must always be insisted upon, and good conduct on the part of the men exacted. Especially should this be done with reference to civilian inhabitants of foreign countries in which Marines are serving. — John A. Lejeune

My family is heavily involved in the Marines and close-combat training, and I was raised doing Japanese sword training, so I've always been of the mentality that you have to be able to defend yourself. — Samaire Armstrong

From an early age I was aware of what America meant, and how the Marines at Camp Pendleton were ready to defend us at a moment's notice. I also remember what fabulous bodies those troops had. — Heather Locklear

If I survived the Marines, I can survive Ali. — Chuck Wepner

If I survived at all, it would be a triumph. If I swam, it would be a miracle. As I unlocked my door, I thought of my mother putting her age back fifteen years and going into the merchant marines. I had to try. If I ended in defeat, at least I would be trying. Trying to overcome was black people's honorable tradition. — Maya Angelou

The ranks of the Marines were now diluted with reservists, at least 50 percent. Few of them were mentally prepared to fight, or physically hardened to war. Inch'on, luckily, had been easy. But now, on the frozen hills above Yudam-ni, the Marines, regular and reservist alike, faced reality. Because their officers were tough-minded, because their discipline was tight, and because their esprit - that indefinable emotion of a fighting man for his standard, his regiment, and the men around him, was unbroken - weak and strong alike, they would face it well. — T.R. Fehrenbach

It was easy to make fun of the marines when they weren't listening. In Holden's navy days, making fun of jarheads was as natural as cussing. But four marines had died getting him off the Donnager, and three of them had made a conscious decision to do so. Holden promised himself that he'd never make fun of them again. — James S.A. Corey

With their survival as an institution and as individual human beings at stake, the Marines have had to ruthlessly and endlessly examine, discard, define, refine, and redefine their approaches to achieve the ultimate in rapid, effective response to dynamic challenges. — David A. Freedman

Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem. — Ronald Reagan

From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, We will fight our country's battles in the air, on land and sea. First to fight for right and freedom, and to keep our honor clean, We are proud to claim the title of United States Marines. - Marine Corps Hymn — Tom Clancy

Know something about the world, and by this I mean the world outside of books. This might require joining the Marines, or working on an oil rig or as a hash slinger at a truck stop in Kentucky. Know what it smells like out there. If everything you write smells like a library, then your prospective audience will be limited to those who like the smell of libraries. — Douglas Wilson

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. — James F. Amos

Flamethrowers have been used by many armies in many wars, including by American Marines in Korea and Vietnam. They cause horrific deaths and are thus a serious public-relations liability. The U.S. military apparently phased them out in 1978. — Rachel Kushner