I don't come from a rich family - it's not like we lived in a cardboard box, but we didn't have a ton of money.

The truth is always more heroic than the hype.

I'm not about to take credit for something I didn't do. I did not shoot - not a round, nothing. I went down praying to my knees - that's the last thing I remember.

I try to dream about peaceful things, beaches, that is what I cannot understand. Why are they chasing me?

I could be, you know, the person that shows little kids that giving up isn't something that you should do.

I have repeatedly said, when asked, that if the stories about me helped inspired our troops and rally a nation, then perhaps there was some good.

I don't come from a rich family - it's not like we lived in a cardboard box, but we didn't have a ton of money.