Everything is touched by the holy when it is in the presence of death.

I knew many Marines had done brave deeds that no one saw and for which they got no medals at all. I was having a very hard time carrying those medals and didnt have the insight or maturity to know what to do with my combination of guilt and pride.

It won't hurt you. It's just to kill plants. It's called Agent Orange...and it won't bother humans.

When the peace treaty is signed, the war isn't over for the veterans, or the family. It's just starting.

For every veteran who goes through a divorce, a wife goes through one, too. For every veteran alone in the basement, there is a wife upstairs, bewildered, isolated and in despair from the dark clouds of war that hangs over family life.

Really important books to me are the classics. I try very hard to read them well - you know, especially once I got serious about writing.

Quitting is unthinkable and pain is just weakness leaving the body