First Quote Added
April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"Okay, Hogs, I've listened to you bellyache about moving to this hew town. This said bellyaching will end as of 1530 hours, will not affect the morale of this squadron henceforth. Do I make myself clear?"
"[addressing his fighter squadron] Morning. You men now have the privilege of serving under the meanest, toughest, screamingest commander in the Marine Corps- me. If I say something you pretend it's coming from the Burning Bush. We're Marines. Marine Corps fighter pilots. We have no other function. That is your mission, and you're gonna hack it or pack it! You're flying with Bull Meechum now, and I kid you not, this is the eye of the storm! Welcome aboard."
"I'd like to propose a toast, to my son. He is eighteen today. He has just ordered his first drink. Before he drinks it, I'd like to wish him a long life, a wife as fine as his mother, and a son as fine as he's been. To my son!"
"I'm a Meechum. A Meechum's a thoroughbred, a winner all the way. He chews nails while the other kids eat cotton candy. He never surrenders. He never gives up."
"Robert Duvall - Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur "Bull" P. Meechum"
"Blythe Danner - Lillian "Lil" Meechum"
"Michael O'Keefe - Ben Meechum"
"Stan Shaw - Toomer Smalls"
"Brian Andrews - Matthew Meechum"
"Paul Gleason - First Lieutenant Sammy"
"Julie Anne Haddock - Karen Meechum"
"David Keith - "Red" Pettus"
"Paul Mantee - Colonel Virgil "Virg" Hedgepath"
"Theresa Merritt - Arrabelle Smalls"
"Lisa Jane Persky - Mary Anne Meechum"
"Michael Strong - Colonel Varney"
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.