Armed Forces Day
Armed Forces Day is this saturday, so go give a uniformed sailor,soldier,airman, or MARINE a high five! I know Armed Forces Day is not exactly a huge holiday for most of us (Americans). But it means something to me and I'd like to take the time here to remember why I enlisted.
Some people say words are just hot air, I know i've said it before. But sometimes words are enough to move people to do things otherwise out of character. I know in the Corps we worship words like Honor, Courage, Duty, and Valor. Most people know these words are virtues. They think of them and associate them with positivity and heroism. But some people are truly moved to passion by these words. They are like a hushed prayer spoken in a soldier's heart before he steps out into a street shattering in enemy fire, they're the endurance a pilot finds to carry on after he watches his wingman's life end in a ball of flames and heat. For many of the people i have the honor of knowing, these words are heavy with our brothers' blood.
I'm going to take a moment to share some quotes that have moved and motivated me in the past by war fighters or about war fighters past and present.
"I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor food; I offer only hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart, and not merely with his lips, follow me."
-Giuseppe Garibaldi
“Sometimes doing your best is not good enough.
Sometimes you must do what is required.”
-Winston Churchill
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
-Winston Churchill
"That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us."
-Shakespeare's Henry V
"Courage is endurance for one more minute."
-USMC 2nd Lt. in Vietnam
And of course I have to add a few motivating quotes for my beloved Corps. Hope any marines out there get a hoot from these.
"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps!"
-Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States, 1945
"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."
-RAdm. "Jay" R. Stark, USN; 10 November 1995
"Gone to Florida to fight the Indians. Will be back when the war is over."
-Colonel Commandant Archibald Henderson, USMC
in a note pinned to his office door, 1836
"I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold."
-1stLt. Clifton B. Cates, USMC
in Belleau Wood, 19 July 1918
Hope those did something for any fellow Americans out there. And to any fellow gunfighters out there, thank you for your service. If anyone out there who happens to stumble upon this post has any quotes/poems/speeches/songs that influence them in a big way, feel free to post them up.
Semper Fidelis!
