Quitting Is Unthinkable And Pain Is Just

The Marine Corps Taught Me How To Kill, But It Didn't Teach Me How To Deal With Killing.

I Don't Want Any Romantics To Go Into The Military. I'm Not A Pacifist. I Think We Need A Military, And The Better One We Have, The Better Off We Are. I Don't Want Kids Going In There Thinking That It's John Wayne On Iwo Jima. That's Not Healthy.

In The Military I Could Exercise The Power Of Being Automatically Respected Because Of The Medals On My Chest, Not Because I Had Done Anything Right At The Moment To Earn That Respect. This Is Pretty Nice. It's Also A Psychological Trap That Can Stop One's Growth And Allow One To Get Away With Just Plain Bad Behavior.

He Ran As He'd Never Run Before, With Neither Hope Nor Despair. He Ran Because The World Was Divided Into Opposites And His Side Had Already Been Chosen For Him, His Only Choice Being Whether Or Not To Play His Part With Heart And Courage. He Ran Because Fate Had Placed Him In A Position Of Responsibility And He Had Accepted The Burden. He Ran Because His Self-respect Required It. He Ran Because He Loved His Friends And This Was The Only Thing He Could Do To End The Madness That Was Killing And Maiming Them.

I Knew Many Marines Had Done Brave Deeds That No One Saw And For Which They Got No Medals At All. I Was Having A Very Hard Time Carrying Those Medals And Didnt Have The Insight Or Maturity To Know What To Do With My Combination Of Guilt And Pride.