American Veterans Quotes:

Caring for veterans shouldn’t be a partisan issue. It should an American one.

- Jennifer Granholm

source: "Honor Sacrifice by Supporting Vets" by Jennifer M. Granholm, www.huffingtonpost.com. May 26, 2012.

topic: Caring, American Veterans, Issues, Funny Veterans Day, Happy Veterans Day

First, separate ground, sea and air warfare is gone forever. This lesson we learned in World War II. I lived that lesson in Europe. Others lived it in the Pacific. Millions of American veterans learned it well.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

topic: War, Air, American Veterans

The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.

- Robert H. Schuller

topic: Inspirational, Life, Truth, Soldiers At War, Inspirational Military

Without heroes, we are all plain people and don't know how far we can go.

- Bernard Malamud

source: Bernard Malamud (2003). “The Natural: A Novel”, p.148, Macmillan

topic: Inspirational, Inspiring, Veterans Day, Memorial Day Heroes, War Veteran

Thank you for the sacrifices you and your families are making. Our Vietnam Veterans have taught us that no matter what are positions may be on policy, as Americans and patriots, we must support all of our soldiers with our thoughts and our prayers.

- Zach Wamp

topic: Thank You, Memorial Day, Prayer, Veteran Appreciation, Veteran's Day

Our veterans accepted the responsibility to defend America and uphold our values when duty called.

- Bill Shuster

topic: Veterans Day, Responsibility, Our Veterans, Christian Veterans Day, Veteran Memorial

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask: "Mother, what was war?"

- Eve Merriam

topic: Mother, Dream, Peace, Acts Of Violence, War Veteran

Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.

- Ernest Hemingway

source: Ernest Hemingway, William Kozlenko (1942). “Men at War: The Best War Stories of All Time”, New York : Crown Publishers

topic: Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Military, Soldiers At War, Military Force

The willingness of America's veterans to sacrifice for our country has earned them our lasting gratitude.

- Jeff Miller

topic: Thanksgiving, Country, Veterans Day, Memorial Day Messages, Memorial Day Poems

Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.

- George S. Patton

topic: Courage, Veterans Day, Fear, Inspirational Courage, Military General

My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place - police, firefighters and members of our armed forces.

- Sidney Sheldon

topic: Thank You, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day Thank You, Protect And Serve

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

- Patrick Henry

topic: Inspirational, Courage, Veterans Day, Soldiers At War, Forged

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.

- Sun Tzu

source: Sun Tzu “Sun Tzu: The Art of War (Illustrated)”, Charles River Editors

topic: Thank You, Veterans Day, Art, War Strategy, War Veteran

It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.

- Zell Miller

source: 2004 Republican National Convention Address, delivered 1 September 2004, Madison Square Garden, New York

topic: Veterans Day, Military, Army, Joining The Army, Joining The Military

How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes!

- Maya Angelou

topic: Veterans Day, Women, Hero, Fireman, Women Equality

Because all of us believe and understand in the fabric of the common bond of why we call ourselves American is to care for the men and women who wear the uniform; and when they take off the uniform, we care for them when they are veterans.

- Steve Buyer

topic: Veterans Day, Believe, Men, Veterans Day Thank You, American Veterans

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

- Elmer Davis

topic: Veterans Day, Courage, Memories, India Independence Day, Independence Day

Never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

- Winston Churchill

topic: Courage, Yield, Giving, Special Forces, Overwhelming Force

Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.

- John F. Kennedy

source: Inaugural Address, 20 Jan. 1961

topic: Inspirational, Memorial Day, Freedom, Inaugural Speech, Independence And Freedom

A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.

- Joseph Campbell

topic: Inspiring, Courage, Veterans Day, Something Bigger Than Yourself, Inspirational Military

Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.

- Gilbert K. Chesterton

source: Gilbert K. Chesterton (2013). “The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton”, p.69, Simon and Schuster

topic: Courage, Veterans Day, Strong, Strong Desire, Be Courageous

The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.

- George Washington

topic: Military, War, People, Memorial Day Soldiers, Military Memorial

Better than honor and glory, and History's iron pen, Was the thought of duty done and the love of his fellow-men.

- Richard Watson Gilder

source: Richard Watson Gilder (1900). “Five Books of Song”

topic: Veterans Day, Men, Iron, Memorial Day Poems, Memorial Day Remembrance

I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.

- Nathan Hale

source: Before being executed as a spy by the British, 22 September 1776, in Henry Phelps Johnston 'Nathan Hale, 1776' (1914) ch. 7.

topic: Inspirational, Life, Country, Independence Day Patriotic, American Revolution

On this Veterans Day, let us remember the service of our veterans, and let us renew our national promise to fulfill our sacred obligations to our veterans and their families who have sacrificed so much so that we can live free.

- Dan Lipinski

topic: Veterans Day, Our Veterans, Promise, Live Free, Wounded Veterans

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

- John F. Kennedy

topic: Inspirational, Thank You, Thanksgiving, I Am Thankful, Inspirational Gratitude

While only one day of the year is dedicated solely to honoring our veterans, Americans must never forget the sacrifices that many of our fellow countrymen have made to defend our country and protect our freedoms.

- Randy Neugebauer

topic: Country, Veterans Day, Military, Memorial Day Heroes, Countrymen

We have met the enemy and they are ours.

- Oliver Hazard Perry

source: Message toWilliam Henry Harrison, 10 Sept. 1813. The source is Perry's dispatch from the U.S. brig Niagara to General Harrison, announcing that victory at the Battle of Lake Erie was secure. The dispatch was written in pencil on the back of an old letter; it is quoted in Robert B. McAfee, History of the LateWar in theWestern Country (1816). SeeWalt Kelly 2; Walt Kelly 3

topic: Military, Enemy, Mets, Military History, Military Soldier

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

- Richard Grenier

topic: Strength, Wisdom, Veterans Day, Inspirational Good Night, Military Force

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.

- Ronald Reagan

source: Ronald Reagan (1983). “A Time for Choosing: The Speeches of Ronald Reagan, 1961-1982”, Gateway Books

topic: Strength, Peace, Children, Independence And Freedom, Inspirational Freedom

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.

- Dwight D. Eisenhower

source: First Inaugural Address, delivered 20 January 1953

topic: Success, Witty, Atheist, Inspirational Military, Memorial Day Poems

Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

- Billy Graham

topic: Motivational, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Inspirational Courage, Memorial Day Heroes

In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.

- Mark Twain

topic: Thank You, Memorial Day, Courage, Independence Day Patriotic, Inspirational Patriotic

The most persistent sound which reverberates through man's history is the beating of war drums.

- Arthur Koestler

topic: Military, War, Men, Soldiers At War, War Veteran

**** the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!

- David Farragut

source: At the battle of Mobile Bay, 5 August 1864 ('torpedoes' were mines). Capt. A. T. Mahan 'Admiral Farragut' (1892) ch. 10

topic: War, Civil War, Speed, Military History, Military Soldier

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth.

- Ronald Reagan

source: A Time for Choosing (aka "The Speech"), Air date 27 October 1964, Los Angeles, CA

topic: Children, Destiny, Men, Thousand Years, Rendezvous

They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.

- Henry Ward Beecher

topic: Memorial Day, Clouds, Memorial, Memorial Day Heroes, Memorial Day Poems

Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

- Chester W. Nimitz

topic: Military, Men, Common, Military Man, Military Soldier

Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never -- in nothing, great or small, large or petty -- never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.

- Winston Churchill

source: Speech at Harrow School, Harrow, England, 29 Oct. 1941

topic: Life, Inspiring, Graduation, Just Give Up, Just Stay Strong

Those who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.

- Aristotle

topic: Veterans Day, Military, Faces, Military Memorial, Veteran Appreciation

To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace.

- George Washington

topic: Inspirational, Leadership, Motivation, Soldiers At War, Inspirational Military

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

- Desmond Tutu

topic: Memorial Day, Peace, Freedom, Soldiers At War, Individual Liberty

I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way.

- John Paul Jones

source: Letter to Le Ray de Chaumont, 16 Nov. 1778

topic: Life, Fear, Military, American Revolution, Military Aviation