“Warriors are never appreciated in peacetime except by those they saved during the war.”

“The main difference between a fighter pilot and God is that God doesn't think he was a fighter pilot.”

“If we survive this, I'm going to have a very serious talk with the techs back home about what constitutes "need to know.”

“We don't bolt, Ensign ... We advance cautiously to the front and quickly to the rear.”

“... they couldn't do it the easy way, so they cut through the problem and made another option.”

“It struck me that such analyses had it backward. It’s the American public for whom the Iraq War is often no more real than a video game. Five years into this war, I am not always confident most Americans fully appreciate the caliber of the people fighting for them, the sacrifices they have made, and the sacrifices they continue to make. After the Vietnam War ended, the onus of shame largely fell on the veterans. This time around, if shame is to be had when the Iraq conflict ends - and all indications are there will be plenty of it - the veterans are the last people in America to deserve it. When it comes to apportioning shame my vote goes to the American people who sent them to war in a surge of emotion but quickly lost the will to either win it or end it. The young troops I profiled in Generation Kill, as well as the other men and women in uniform I’ve encountered in combat zones throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, are among the finest people of their generation. We misuse them at our own peril.”

“War was easy. The hard part was cleaning up afterward.”