Quotes About War

Increasingly the United States found itself isolated. Having for two decades enjoyed its status as champion of the free world, it was increasingly the target of bitter criticism abroad and at home, where a growing number of prominent intellectuals and church leaders denounced the bombing campaign as barbaric. The military might disdain the fickle nature of public sympathy, but a democracy cannot sustain a war effort without it, and moral revulsion was growing.

One of its analysts was Daniel Ellsberg, who at the time was back in the States compiling the report that—after he leaked it to the press in 1971—would become known as The Pentagon Papers. The study showed that American leaders had been systematically lying about the scope and progress of the war for years and had consistently enlarged it despite doubts that the effort could succeed.

Tran Thi Thu Van, the writer from Saigon, spent those weeks wandering in the wasteland of the battle trying to stay alive. She would later record scene after scene of horror in her book Mourning Headband for Hue.

When the New York Times confirmed the truth about Hue on its front page, word was definitely out: trapped marines . . . smoking city . . . five battalions of enemy troops. A huge fight was shaping up inside the old fortress. Suddenly nearly every reporter in the country was trying to get to Hue.

Two hundred and fifty American marines and soldiers were killed, and 1,554 wounded.75 Another 458 ARVN soldiers were killed and an estimated 2,700 wounded. The Front's losses are estimated to have been between 2,400 and 5,000—the difference between the official counts of both sides, both known to lie about such numbers. When

the final toll of the Battle of Hue numbers well over ten thousand, making it by far the bloodiest of the Vietnam War.

He was disappointed on his first Vietnam tour in 1965 when he'd seen little action. Now, with his own company, he was eager to be put to use. His ears stuck out on either side of his high-and-tight and he wore US Marine Corps–issued glasses in thick black plastic frames. In his wallet, he carried a formal portrait of his wife, Missy, and daughter, Marianne, both wearing pink. The politics of the war didn't concern him at all. He was a marine; there was a war on.

Nearly everyone had a father or uncles who had fought in World War II or Korea, or both, and many had grandfathers who had fought in World War I. War was stitched deep in the idea of manhood.

Have you been reading anything in the paper about Hue? It is supposed to be big news in the states. Well that's where I am. It is supposed to be some of the worst fighting that has been fought in the war. If it isn't it will be plenty for me. I can't really say how bad it has been. We've lost a hell of a lot of people. . . . This house to house fighting is a son of a bitch. I've never been so scared in all my life.

The absurd body counts and kill ratios were proof of his leadership. He sold them to LBJ, who in turn presented them as fact to the American people.

She told them that the peace and freedom promised by the nguy and their American controllers was illusory. Their country was at war and would remain at war until the invaders and traitors were gone. The real Vietnam would rise she said. It would be united. She envisioned a future where the free Vietnamese people worked together to improve life for all.

Forgetfulness of God's grace is one of the greatest tools in the enemy's war against our souls.

Life is a war against a spiritual enemy we cannot see. We can't win on our own, but the God who sees all gives us courage, perseverance, and wisdom to win an otherwise unwinnable war.

When soldiers go home, their first desire, whether they know it or not, is to have children, children being the only antidote for war.

He heard the Baymen tell of war, but they never said it could be harnessed, its head held down, and made to run in place.

We like it the way it is. We're enjoying the oscillating balances, the ongoing war between good and evil, the wonderful small triumphs of the soul. Perhaps it's too soon to end all that. Perhaps we need some more time to think things out.

It is said that marriage is a long war between ancient families trapped in close proximity by lust.

They always say about the soldier that he's detached. That's true, for he's been in the eye of the storm, his heart has been broken, and he doesn't even know it.

The adversary must first be made into a demon before people will accept the war. This was why during the Cold War, the U.S. government became infuriated at any

By the time the war ended, Iceland was a changed country. Not least among the changes, in 1944 it had negotiated full independence from Denmark. Now it was free to negotiate its own relations with the rest of the world. Because of cod, it had moved in one generation from a fifteenth-century colonial society to a modern postwar nation.

It is always easier to promote war than peace, easier to end the peace than end the war, because peace is fragile and war is durable.

General Motors, ITT, and Ford come most readily to mind as having plants protected by Hitler

the poor were duped into fighting to defend the privileges of the rich.

Despite the fame of their bright clothing, Celts are described going naked into battle except for horned helmets. We are told that they had frightening war cries and that the terrifying songs of their ancestors were preludes to violent attacks.