Anthony Swofford

“My despair is less despair than boredom and loneliness.”

“When you fail, you disgrace yourself and others. When you succeed, be proud and others will be proud for you.”

“It dosnt matter how many mr. and mrs. johnsons are anti war- the actuall killers who know how to use the weapons are not.”

“If while alive you hurt or disappoint people you love, there's no use continuing such behavior when you're dead.”

“During the few months Troy had been back home, he’d told his friends about us, and so we quickly eased into the conversation as though we’d all known each other for many years. They embarrassed us with great thanks for having served overseas. They recounted combat events Troy had told them, and we realized by the context of their stories that Troy had made us heroes for his friends because we’d been heroes to him. At this point I was the saddest I’d yet been over Troy’s passing, because the true friend from war is the friend who obliterates his own story by telling the stories of others.”

“I have gone to war and now I can issue my complaint. I can sit on my porch and complain all day. And you must listen. Some of you will say to me: You signed the contract, you crying bitch, and you fought in a war because of your signature, no one held a gun to your head. This is true, but because I signed the contract and fulfilled my obligation to fight one of America’s wars, I am entitled to speak, to say, I belong to a fucked situation.”