For a split second I was fearful because I knew I wasn't going to survive, but then I was OK because at least I was going out with a bang.

— Cpl Kyle Carpenter - MOH - answer to question "What's the moment that you feel most fearful on the battlefield and how did you overcome that" 06/16/2014

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem." - PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN, 1985

“The boys we took from the farm, the factory, the school, and the office became the best amphibious troops in the world.”  — Gen. Holland M. Smith

"The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle." ~ Gen. John "Black Jack" Pershing, U.S. Army - Commander of American Forces in World War I

“Uncommon valor was a common virtue.” ~ Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz

“The Marine Corps … took a boy and made him a man.”  –Cpl. Edwin C. Bearss, 1942

“We go forward with our heads held high, but look back and remember where we come from.” ~ Col. Michael Hudson | 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit

"The Marines have landed, and the situation is well in hand". ~ Richard Harding Davis, war correspondent (1885)

"I love the Corps for those intangible possessions that cannot be issued: pride, honor, integrity, and being able to carry on the traditions for generations of warriors past." ~ Cpl. Jeff Sornig, USMC; in Navy Times, November 1994

"I have only two men out of my company and 20 out of some other company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try to get it here as we are swept by machine gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I will hold." ~ 1stLt. Clifton B. Cates, USMC - in Belleau Wood, 19 July 1918