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Discussing Military Quotes.

Blackadder1916 said:
Huh?  What are “SLs” and “SIs” and who the f* is this idiot “Flying Spirit”?
Guessing it was an Air Cadet (senoir leader; survival instructor).
 
Michael O'Leary said:
If we did that and sent away everyone on your personal hit list, you'd be reduced to making sarcastic replies to yourself.    ;D
I'm sure that is already done when no one is looking.
 
I've been to hell and back again only to fight another day.
- Cdt.L

I'm sure a lot of cadets "go to hell and back" and this guy is hard as Christmas candy and all that, but yea.. Terrible.
 
When Patton assumed command of Third Army, he replaced a number of the headquarters staff with his own people. Patton spoke to his headquarters staff on March 24, 1944 outside Peover Hall. Some were from his staff in Africa and Sicily but were new to Third Army. Others were fresh from the United States and had been part of Third Army from the beginning. On this day, Patton tailored his speech to a headquarters staff.

Patton’s Speech to the Staff Officers

I have been given command of Third Army for reasons which will become clear to you later on. You made an outstanding record as an able and hard-working staff under my predecessor. I have no doubt you will do the same for me. We now have two staffs merging into one, each with its own procedures. By working harmoniously and intelligently together a third staff will be developed with a third procedure, which should be better than either of the other two.

I am here because of the confidence of two men: The President of the United States and the theater commander. They have confidence in me because they don't believe a lot of goddamned lies that have been printed about me and also because they know I mean business when I fight. I don't fight for fun and I won't tolerate anyone on my staff who does.

You are here to fight. This is an active theater of war. Ahead of you lies battle. That means just one thing. You can't afford to be a goddamned fool, because, in battle, fools mean dead men. It is inevitable for men to be killed and wounded in battle. But there is no reason why such losses should be increased because of the incompetence and carelessness of some stupid son-of-a-bitch. I don't tolerate such men on my staff.

There are three reasons why we are fighting this war. The first is because we are determined to preserve our traditional liberties. Some crazy German bastards decided they were supermen and that it was their holy mission to rule the world. They've been pushing people around all over the world, looting, killing, and abusing millions of innocent men, women, and children. They were getting set to do the same thing to us. We had to fight to prevent being subjugated.

The second reason we are fighting is to defeat and wipe out the Nazis who started all this goddamned son-of-bitchery. They didn't think we could or would fight, and they weren't the only ones who thought that, either. There are certain people back home who had the same idea. Both were wrong.

The third reason we are fighting is because men like to fight. They always have and they always will. Some sophists and other crackpots deny that. They don't know what they're talking about. They are either goddamned fools or cowards, or both. Men like to fight, and if they don't they're not real men.

If you don't like to fight, I don't want you around. You'd better get out before I kick you out. But there is one thing to remember. In war, it takes more than the desire to fight to win. You've got to have more than guts to lick the enemy. You must also have brains. It takes brains and guts to win wars. A man with guts but no brains is only half a soldier. We licked the Germans in Africa and Sicily because we had brains as well as guts. We're going to lick them in Europe for the same reason.

That's all and good luck.

http://www.historyinfilm.com/patton/bio.htm
 
My favorite quote comes from my old Admin WO. He was a friend, and a mentor to me and will be missed.

" ......Fact, not fiction, dogmeat...and don't you forget it!" WO Charles Sinclair, 116 Indep FD Bty.

Rest in peace Chuck. Ubique
 
daftandbarmy said:
When Patton assumed command of Third Army, he replaced a number of the headquarters staff with his own people. Patton spoke to his headquarters staff on March 24, 1944 outside Peover Hall. Some were from his staff in Africa and Sicily but were new to Third Army. Others were fresh from the United States and had been part of Third Army from the beginning. On this day, Patton tailored his speech to a headquarters staff.

Patton’s Speech to the Staff Officers

I have been given command of Third Army for reasons which will become clear to you later on. You made an outstanding record as an able and hard-working staff under my predecessor. I have no doubt you will do the same for me. We now have two staffs merging into one, each with its own procedures. By working harmoniously and intelligently together a third staff will be developed with a third procedure, which should be better than either of the other two.

I am here because of the confidence of two men: The President of the United States and the theater commander. They have confidence in me because they don't believe a lot of goddamned lies that have been printed about me and also because they know I mean business when I fight. I don't fight for fun and I won't tolerate anyone on my staff who does.

You are here to fight. This is an active theater of war. Ahead of you lies battle. That means just one thing. You can't afford to be a goddamned fool, because, in battle, fools mean dead men. It is inevitable for men to be killed and wounded in battle. But there is no reason why such losses should be increased because of the incompetence and carelessness of some stupid son-of-a-*****. I don't tolerate such men on my staff.

There are three reasons why we are fighting this war. The first is because we are determined to preserve our traditional liberties. Some crazy German bastards decided they were supermen and that it was their holy mission to rule the world. They've been pushing people around all over the world, looting, killing, and abusing millions of innocent men, women, and children. They were getting set to do the same thing to us. We had to fight to prevent being subjugated.

The second reason we are fighting is to defeat and wipe out the Nazis who started all this goddamned son-of-bitchery. They didn't think we could or would fight, and they weren't the only ones who thought that, either. There are certain people back home who had the same idea. Both were wrong.

The third reason we are fighting is because men like to fight. They always have and they always will. Some sophists and other crackpots deny that. They don't know what they're talking about. They are either goddamned fools or cowards, or both. Men like to fight, and if they don't they're not real men.

If you don't like to fight, I don't want you around. You'd better get out before I kick you out. But there is one thing to remember. In war, it takes more than the desire to fight to win. You've got to have more than guts to lick the enemy. You must also have brains. It takes brains and guts to win wars. A man with guts but no brains is only half a soldier. We licked the Germans in Africa and Sicily because we had brains as well as guts. We're going to lick them in Europe for the same reason.

That's all and good luck.

http://www.historyinfilm.com/patton/bio.htm

Hmmm.  Patton actually contradicts himself here.  First he says he doesn't fight for fun, then he says he likes to fight and expects all other "men" to like it as well.  Just more proof that he was bat-crap crazy.

 
Pusser said:
Hmmm.  Patton actually contradicts himself here.  First he says he doesn't fight for fun, then he says he likes to fight and expects all other "men" to like it as well.  Just more proof that he was bat-crap crazy.

You mean, like, when he wanted to keep going and invade the Soviet Union aftet the war with Germany ended? Oh yeah, he was the definition of nuts. Fun to watch though!
 
gun runner: Chuck was a great guy and the epitome of the clerk ensuring the soldiers were well looked after. He and "Doc" Holday were a team, and characters!
 
Just seen this one.  Perhaps someone can shed some light on what he was trying to say.

The soundest strategy in war is to postpone operations until the moral disintegration of the enemy renders the delivery of the mortal blow both possible and easy.
- V. I. Lenin, Russian revolutionary leader

How is leaving the enemy alone going to disintegrate their morale?  Bore them to death?  It seems to go against everything we practice and preach about keeping the initiative.

Or am I just reading it wrong?
 
GnyHwy said:
Just seen this one.  Perhaps someone can shed some light on what he was trying to say.

The soundest strategy in war is to postpone operations until the moral disintegration of the enemy renders the delivery of the mortal blow both possible and easy.
- V. I. Lenin, Russian revolutionary leader

How is leaving the enemy alone going to disintegrate their morale?  Bore them to death?  It seems to go against everything we practice and preach about keeping the initiative.

Or am I just reading it wrong?

Some discussion / explanation of that quote here under "The Aims of Strategy":
http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/policy/1942/1942-07-08a.html
 
Narrowing it down to these sentences.

"Lenin put it another way when he said that "the soundest strategy in war is to postpone operations until the moral disintegration of the enemy renders the delivery of the mortal blow both possible and easy." We have seen this theory most thoroughly put into practice by Hitler against his successive opponents in this war; concluding with the classic example of France, when his Fifth Column and his preparatory subversive treatment of French bureaucracy quickly nullified the will to resist of the French Army."

I guess he was just speaking of kinetic ops, because that sure seems like an operation to me.

Thanks for the link.
 
ARTILLERY ADDS DIGNITY, TO WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE AN UGLY BRAWL.
- Unknown

Not sure what this means, other than having our Infantry fight without support, therefore an ugly brawl.  It's the word ugly that strikes me the most; the aftermath of an artillery barrage is far from pretty.

I guess if you can destroy your enemy with artillery and without a brawl it would be ideal, but we all know that is not possible.
 
GnyHwy said:
ARTILLERY ADDS DIGNITY, TO WHAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE AN UGLY BRAWL.
- Unknown

Not sure what this means, other than having our Infantry fight without support, therefore an ugly brawl.  It's the word ugly that strikes me the most; the aftermath of an artillery barrage is far from pretty.

I guess if you can destroy your enemy with artillery and without a brawl it would be ideal, but we all know that is not possible.


This is the context in which I am most familiar with the quote:

orig.jpg


It is, usually (just often?) attributed to Fredrick the Great ... a bit tongue in cheek, I suspect.
 
These mercenaries, I swear by God, those who are still in Washington, they have sent their troops to be burned.
- Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf, The Iraqi Information Minister

I think there should be a different place for the Iraqi info ops guys; maybe in a farce section.  Although it is humourous, they are hardly worthly of being taken seriously.
 
The reason the American Army does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the American Army practices it on a daily basis.
- From a post-war debriefing of a German General

The couple dozen times I have heard this quote throughout my career, it has always been Canadian Army.

Does this mean I have been lied to my entire career?
 
One of my favorites which reminds me why so many men locally signed up in WW1 and WW2.

"War is hell but what is homesteading"

Note pinned to a cabin door by enlisting soldier Chipman Kerr, VC

http://books.google.ca/books?id=D8b4dEcUENsC&pg=PA142&lpg=PA142&dq=war+is+hell+but+so+is+homesteading&source=bl&ots=dKYLE1SuhJ&sig=l4D3LhI59HLBb4S7jRcHoZauAU8&hl=en#v=onepage&q=war%20is%20hell%20but%20so%20is%20homesteading&f=false  Page 142 also references it.
 
Quote # 153.

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower

This one has always been a favourite of mine.  Very simple and true.
 
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