Chesty Puller Quotes
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesty_Puller (Left Picture): Chesty Puller, United States Marine officer, in November 1950, during the Korean War. (Right Picture): Retired LtGen Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller and his wife, Virginia, at their home. Circa 1970.

Chesty Puller Quotes

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Lewis Burwell Puller, better known as “Chesty”, was a U. S. Marine who fought guerrillas in Nicaragua, Haiti, Nazis in World War II, and Communists in Korea to become the most decorated Marine ever.

His first action would be in Haiti fighting Caco rebels where he was a corporal and attempting to gain his officer’s commission. Over forty engagements were experienced by Chesty where he served with distinction and gained knowledge of combat.

In Nicaragua, Chesty earned his first of five Navy Crosses. Five consecutive engagements were led by Chesty against superior numbers of enemy forces. He took a year long break from the conflict to complete his officer training to return and earn his second Navy Cross when leading Marine and Nicaraguan forces in the last battle against the Sandinista rebels near El Sauce in 1932.

In World War II, Chesty served in the Pacific theater. In Guadalcanal, he would win the Bronze Star with Combat V and third Navy Cross. His forth Navy Cross was earned in the Battle of Cape Gloucester. He would finish the war as the executive officer of training in Camp Lejeune after his brother was killed by a sniper in Guam.

Korea presented Chesty with another conflict to show what makes a Marine a Marine. He won the silver star medal at the landing in Inchon. He also was awarded the legion of merit, Distinguished Service Cross, and fifth Navy Cross for heroism during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

His medals look more like a billboard and definitely give appropriateness to the name he received. Chesty’s service was exemplary in his duty and has been the role model for Marines since. Although not every Marine will have the opportunity to be in as much combat as often as Chesty, they all strive to serve as he did with the enthusiasm and honor that Chesty made the example. That is why we made these Chesty Puller Quotes.

Here are some Chesty Puller Quotes

  1. “All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us. They can’t get away this time.”
  2. “Great news, we can shoot at those bastards from every direction.”
  1. “Our eighth army headquarters is still in Seoul. I don’t understand how they expect troops to reach the Yalu River without their leaders.”
  2. “I want to go where the guns are.”
  3. “There are not enough chinamen in the world to stop a fully armed Marine regiment from going where ever they want to go.”
  4. “Son, when the Marine Corps wants you to have a wife, you will be issued one.”
  5. “We make generals today on the basis of their ability to write a damned letter. Those kinds of men can’t get us ready for war.”
  6. “The mail service has been excellent out here, and in my opinion this is all that the Air Force has accomplished during the war.”
  7. On being shown a flamethrower “Where the hell do you put the bayonet?”
  8. “I’ll take care of my men first. Frozen troops can’t fight. If we run out of ammunition, we’ll go to the bayonet.”
  9. “Old breed? New breed? There’s not a damn difference so long as it’s the Marine breed.”
  10. “Hit hard, hit fast, hit often.”
  11. “I assure you, Virginia, that I, never in my life, have ever made a statement that ‘I like to fight.’”
  12. “They are a damn site better than the U. S. Army, at least we will know that they will be there in the morning.”
  13. “All right you bastards, try and shoot me!”
  14. “The Continental Army never went through anything like those boys in Korea. The weather at the Chosin Reservoir averaged 25 degrees below zero. and it doesn’t get that cold at Valley Forge.”
  15. “You don’t hurt ‘em if you don’t hit ‘em.”
  16. “I have yet to encounter any officer here who has read an account of the Russio-Japanese War. The Japanese armies went up through Korea, crossed the Yalu River and turned westward to capture Port Arthur. The Japanese forces found out what cold weather would do to the troops under field conditions.”
  17. “We’ve been looking for the enemy for some time now. We’ve finally found him. We’re surrounded. That simplifies things.”
  18. “I wish I had a flair for writing, as then I am certain this regiment would get the credit due them when the history of this operation is finally written. Now everyone knows, but in a few years what is written will govern. I will do a better job of getting the facts in my reports than I did in the past war. I will also claim everything due the regiment.”

 

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