Some day I'd like to cover a war in a country as ugly as war itself.

Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive.

I was away from the front lines for a while this spring, living with other troops, and considerable fighting took place while I was gone. When I got ready to return to my old friends at the front I wondered if I would sense any change in them.

Marines have a cynical approach to war. They believe in three things; liberty, payday and that when two Marines are together in a fight, one is being wasted. Being a minority group militarily, they are proud and sensitive in their dealings with other military organizations. A Marine's concept of a perfect battle is to have other Marines on the right and left flanks, Marine aircraft overhead and Marine artillery and naval gunfire backing them up.

I try not to take any foolish chances, but there's just no way to play it completely safe and still do your job.

Thoughts are wonderful things, that they can bring two people, so far apart, into harmony and understanding for even a little while.

Say what you will, nothing can make a complete soldier except battle experience.