10 quotes
Ever since I was a child I never wanted to be anything else but a soldier.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)
While I was never over-romanced by the West Point graduate, at the same time, I always felt, by God, a West Pointer ought to be damn good.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)
The lessons of West Point are many, but the Academy has been the source of discipline, courage, and strength for many of its graduates in both peace and war since its founding in 1802.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)
Everybody's afraid, but to do your job in combat you have to put your fear down. If you're not afraid in combat, you're either a fool or a liar.
The Bad War: An Oral History of the Vietnam War (1987)
I'd go back to the Army tonight if I could. I loved the people, the life, the fellowship, the travel. There was nothing about it I didn't like, except my tour in the Pentagon.
No officer I ever met, either above or below me in rank, could touch General Creighton W. Abrams. He was the best soldier I have ever known, including all the members of my family.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)
Prior to Ap Bac, the Kennedy administration had succeeded in preventing the American public from being more than vaguely conscious that the country was involved in a war in a place called Vietnam.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)
It was one of those hot days and it got to be about a hundred degrees, and old Mike just got fed up and threw his books in the corner, and said, 'See ya later, Doc, I'm going to war.' Next thing we heard, he was in Italy with the 3rd Division, where he later was awarded the Medal of Honor and received a battlefield promotion.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)
"You've been described as 'utterly fearless.'"
"Who, me? Who the hell said that? Everybody's afraid, but to do your job in combat you have to put your fear down. If you're not afraid in combat, you're either a fool or a liar."
A great transformation came over West Point. Many of the staff and faculty who had been there previously were non-combat experienced and had been called up from civilian life. Then in came the new superintendent, General Maxwell D. Taylor, who brought to the Department of Tactics a collection of the finest officers that I have ever known before, or since.
The Fighting Pattons (1997)