This is a continuation from here: A New Year Thank You to Men and Women in Uniform - PT 1.
"Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimum food or water, in austere conditions, day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon. He doesn't worry about what workout to do---his rucksack weighs what it weighs, and he runs until the enemy stops chasing him. The True Believer doesn't care 'how hard it is'; he knows he either wins or he dies. He doesn't go home at 1700; he is home. He knows only the 'Cause.' Now, who wants to quit?"
NCOIC of the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course in a welcome speech to new SF candidates
"I don't mind being called tough, because in this racket it's the tough guys who lead the survivors."
General Curtis LeMay, USAF
We have funny things that happen. I can remember standing in a land fill in southern Iraq where we began one of our attacks, and watching my guys so tired from lack of sleep....literally fall on the ground, with their gear on, on top of each other. I then watched "my boys" swat flies for each other, guard each other, share water with each other, offer food for those that did not have any chow, express their disdain for the trash heap that was our home, all the while ready to do battle and if necessary die for each other. I saw with my own eyes the actual creation of the closeness and bond that historians write about in times of war amongst fighting men."
1LT John G. Gibson, 82nd Airborne Division, Baghdad, Iraq
My personal favorite: When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." Attributed to General Tommy Franks
"What is a hero? My heroes are the young men who faced the issues of war and possible death, and then weighed those concerns against obligations to their country. Citizen-soldiers, who interrupted their personal and professional lives at their most formative stage, in the timeless phrase of the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, 'not for fame of reward, not for place of for rank, but in simple obedience to duty, as they understood it."Senator James Webb (D-VA) & Former Secretary of the Navy
"We're here today to pay tribute to two great soldiers; to two great Americans. I am 100 percent convinced we will win this war because we have soldiers like Sgt. Shields and Spc. Velez, and the enemy does not. The enemy has no response for sergeants that risk everything to rescue their injured comrades only to immediately return to the fight. The enemy has no answer to soldiers standing over their injured buddies, even when it means their own lives, so that others will live. Because of that, we will win."
LTC James Rainey, CMDR (pictured left), 2/7th Cavalry Regt., Camp Taji, Iraq, Nov 27, 2004SGT Jonathan B. Shields and SPC Jose A. Velez, both gave their lives while rescuing others.
Again, Thank you for all you have done and continue to do.
