Soldiers

"Sometime she driveth o’er a soldier’s neck, And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats, Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades, Of healths five fathom deep, and then anon Drums in his ear, at which he starts and wakes."

"The General: "Speaking of saints it puzzles me how so many soldiers could find a place on the same plane as monks and see their profession preferred to all peaceful, civilian professions if at all times war had been considered a necessary evil such as the liquor trade or perhaps something even worse. Evidently those Christian nations who recognize saints (not only the Russian ones but approximately also the others) have not only honored the military career but honored it in a very special manner; and of all professions it was the one which alone had the reputation of instructing its best representatives in the practice of sanctity. Such an opinion is contrary to the present movement against wars."

"First, it's important to note that rape and war didn't always go together. For instance, European colonists wrote astonished letters home about how "even these savages" -- by which they meant the residents of this continent they were invading -- didn't rape, not even their women prisoners. But those were wars of self-defense."

"If you're going to get groups of men to risk their humanity, health, and lives in wars of offense, the traditional way is not to pay them a lot, but to addict them to the "cult of masculinity." You have to convince them they're not "real men" unless they kill and conquer."

"Living the grueling life of a warrior seemed, and still does seem, a very simple and uninteresting occupation, especially for someone of my unusually capable intellect, and I was very much opposed to having my life controlled by the crude brutality of the society into which I was thrust."

"When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of folks in this room have seen many times over and you're strong and you can handle it but a lot of people can't handle it. They see horror stories, they see events you couldn't see in a movie, nobody would believe it."

"Children are increasingly vulnerable as conflicts around the world become more brutal, intense and widespread. It is estimated that 300,000 children are today fighting as child soldiers in over 20 countries worldwide. Up to 40 per cent of them are girls."

"Of boasting more than of a bomb afraid, A soldier should be modest as a maid."

"Some for hard masters, broken under arms, In battle lopt away, with half their limbs, Beg bitter bread thro' realms their valour saved."

"There’s an old Chinese saying that a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier. Any time, just give me the chance. I’m prepared all the time."

"O Dormer, how can I behold thy fate, And not the wonders of thy youth relate; How can I see the gay, the brave, the young, Fall in the cloud of war, and lie unsung! In joys of conquest he resigns his breath, And, filled with England's glory, smiles in death."

"God and a soldier all people adore In time of war, but not before; And when war is over and all things are righted, God is neglected and an old soldier slighted."

"O little Force that in your agony Stood fast while England girt her armour on, Held high our honour in your wounded hands, Carried our honour safe with bleeding feet— We have no glory great enough for you, The very soul of Britain keeps your day."

"An Austrian army awfully arrayed. Siege of Belgrade."

"See! There is Jackson standing like a stone wall."

"Each year his mighty armies marched forth in gallant show, Their enemies were targets, their bullets they were tow."

"The king of France with twenty thousand men Went up the hill, and then came down again: The king of Spain with twenty thousand more Climbed the same hill the French had climbed before."

"L'infanterie anglaise est la plus redoubtable de l'Europe; heureusement, il n'y en a pas beaucoup."

"You led our sons across the haunted flood, Into the Canaan of their high desire— No milk and honey there, but tears and blood Flowed where the hosts of evil trod in fire, And left a worse than desert where they passed."

"The knight's bones are dust, And his good sword rust; His soul is with the saints, I trust."

"How sleep the brave, who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blest! * * * * * By fairy hands their knell is rung, By forms unseen their dirge is sung."

"Who passes down this road so late? Compagnon de la Majaloine? Who passes down this road so late, Always gay! Of all the King's Knights 'tis the flower, Compagnon de la Majaloine, Of all the King's Knights 'tis the flower, Always gay!"

"Back of the boy is Wilson, Pledge of his high degree, Back of the boy is Lincoln, Lincoln and Grant and Lee; Back of the boy is Jackson, Jackson and Tippecanoe, Back of each son is Washington, And the old red, white and blue!"

"I have seen men march to the wars, and then I have watched their homeward tread, And they brought back bodies of living men, But their eyes were cold and dead. So, Buddy, no matter what else the fame, No matter what else the prize, I want you to come back thru The Flame With the boy-look still in your eyes!"

"He stands erect; his slouch becomes a walk; He steps right onward, martial in his air, His form and movement."

"Far in foreign fields from Dunkirk to Belgrade Lie the soldiers and chiefs of the Irish Brigade."

"Terrible he rode alone, With his yemen sword for aid; Ornament it carried none But the notches on the blade."

"His helmet now shall make A hive for bees."

"So let his name through Europe ring! A man of mean estate, Who died as firm as Sparta's king, Because his soul was great."

"Mouths without hands; maintained at vast expense, In peace a charge, in war a weak defense: Stout once a month they march, a blustering band, And ever, but in times of need, at hand."

"Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the Judgment Day; Love and tears for the Blue, Tears and love for the Gray."

"Hunde, wollt ihr ewig leben?"

"We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more."

"Man should be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior."

"The broken soldier, kindly bade to stay; Sat by his fire, and talked the night away, Wept o'er his wounds, or tales of sorrow done, Shoulder'd his crutch, and show'd how fields were won."

"Wake, soldier wake, thy war-horse waits To bear thee to the battle back;— Thou slumberest at a foeman's gates,— Thy dog would break thy bivouac; Thy plume is trailing in the dust, And thy red falchion gathering rust."

"He slept an iron sleep,— Slain fighting for his country."

"The sex is ever to a soldier kind."

"Ben Battle was a soldier bold, And used to war's alarms; But a cannon-ball took off his legs, So he laid down his arms."

"But for you, it shall be forever Spring, And only you shall be forever fearless, And only you shall have white, straight, tireless limbs, And only you, where the water lily swims, Shall walk along pathways, thro' the willows Of your West. You who went West, And only you on silvery twilight pillows Shall take your rest In the soft, sweet glooms Of twilight rooms."

"The Seconds that tick as the clock moves along Are Privates who march with a spirit so strong. The Minutes are Captains. The Hours of the day Are Officers brave, who lead on to the fray. So, remember, when tempted to loiter and dream You've an army at hand; your command is supreme; And question yourself, as it goes on review— Has it helped in the fight with the best it could do?"

"He smote them hip and thigh."

"In a wood they call the Rouge Bouquet, There is a new-made grave today, Built by never a spade nor pick, Yet covered with earth ten meters thick. There lie many fighting men, Dead in their youthful prime."

"Let not him that girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off."

"As we pledge the health of our general, who fares as rough as we, What can daunt us, what can turn us, led to death by such as he?"

""What are the bugles blowin' for?" said Files-on-Parade. "To turn you out, to turn you out," the Colour Sergeant said."

"For they're hangin' Danny Deever, you can 'ear the Dead March play, The regiment's in 'ollow square—They're hangin' him to-day; They're taken of his buttons off an' cut his stripes away, An' they're hangin' Danny Deever in the morning."

"Tho 'eathen in 'is blindness bows down to wood an' stone; 'E don't obey no orders unless they is 'is own; 'E keeps 'is side-arms awful: 'e leaves 'em all about, An' then comes up the Regiment an' pokes the 'eathen out."

"So 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, at your 'ome in the Soudan; You're a pore benighted 'eathen but a first-class fightin' man; And 'ere's to you, Fuzzy-Wuzzy, with your 'ay-rick 'ead of 'air; You big black boundin' beggar—for you broke a British square!"

"For it's Tommy this an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck 'im out, the brute!" But it's "Savior of 'is country," when the guns begin to shoot."