Is there a quote or passage that kept you going while serving in the military?

2017-06-08T17:00:25-04:00

I had two that I eventually had tattooed so that they would always be with me.
"Dulce et Decorum est Pro Patria Moro"
And
Revelations 19:11

Response by CPO Robert (Mac) McGovern made Jun 8 at 2017 5:03 PM

2017-06-08T17:03:52-04:00

From Henry Ford..."Think you can or think you can't, you are always right."

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2017 5:21 PM

2017-06-08T17:21:02-04:00

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

"Blessed are the Peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God" Matthew 5:9

Response by SPC Margaret Higgins made Jun 8 at 2017 5:24 PM

2017-06-08T17:24:33-04:00

SGT Joseph Gunderson:
My favorite quote is from the late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country."
I just loved the late President Kennedy, Sergeant. He not only started the Peace Corps; but, he was instrumental in landing the first man ON THE MOON!!
Rest well tonight, Sergeant.
-Most Sincerely, Margaret C. Higgins U.S. Army (Ret.): Coach/Photographer

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2017 6:50 PM

2017-06-08T18:50:58-04:00

If by Rudyard Kipling:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Response by CPO John Clapp made Jun 8 at 2017 8:12 PM

2017-06-08T20:12:39-04:00

A Sailor belongs on his ship, His ship belongs at sea, Haze grey and under way is the only way for me.

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jun 8 at 2017 9:54 PM

2017-06-08T21:54:23-04:00

Some have reoccurred for me so many times that I've embellished a couple that must be attributed to somebody else:
Those who live by the sword, eventually fall on it. (That was every time I had to deal with the one dimensional Rambo wannabes. They eventually did.)
You want it bad, you get it bad. The worse you want it, the worse you get it.
It's not that bad. There isn't any seawater in your rack, right?
And there's that variation of Psalm 23:4 "I fear no evil because I'm the meanest SOB in the valley."
Different quotes for different struggles. They served to point me towards doing the right and necessary thing from time to time.

Response by CPT Jim Schwebach made Jun 8 at 2017 10:35 PM

2017-06-08T22:35:36-04:00

Illegitimis Non Carborundum...

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2017 11:11 PM

2017-06-08T23:11:38-04:00

always remember SSDD

Response by GySgt James Marchinke made Jun 9 at 2017 6:50 AM

2017-06-09T06:50:15-04:00

Doing the right thing even if no one is watching

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2017 8:25 AM

2017-06-09T08:25:27-04:00

When Iraq was still the wild west and we could get things sewn into/on our uniforms, I had "Veni, Vidi, Vici" sewn onto the back of my boonie. Translated it means, "I came, I saw, I conquered"

13 years later and I still wear that boonie when I go fishing

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2017 10:13 AM

2017-06-09T10:13:32-04:00

Psalm 91: The Warrior's Prayer: Best wishes to you and God Speed
Psalm 91New International Version (NIV)
Sincerely,
Ponce Espinoza
U.S., Army, LTC, Retired
1988-2013

Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”