Military Wisdom from Lewis B. Chesty Puller
“We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.” – Quote Attributed to Chesty Puller, USMC (I have found three versions of this one)
“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” – Lewis B. Chesty Puller, USMC
“They are in front of us, behind us, and we are flanked on both sides by an enemy that outnumbers us 29:1. They can’t get away from us now!” – Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC
During a time when the 1st Marine Division was cut off behind enemy lines and deemed lost by the Army, the situation seemed dire. Yet, the Marines managed to make it out, inflicting the highest casualty ratio on the enemy and obliterating 7 entire enemy divisions. Worth noting, an enemy division consists of 16,500+ men, whereas a Marine division is composed of 12,500 men.
“The mail service has been excellent out here, and in my opinion, this is all that the Air Force has accomplished during the war.” – Chesty Puller in a letter to his wife while in Korea
“Don’t forget that you’re First Marines! Not all the Communists in hell can overrun you!” – Chesty Puller motivating his men at Chosin Reservoir
“Take me to the Brig. I want to see the ‘real Marines’.” – Major General Chesty Puller, USMC – while on a Battalion inspection.
“Our Country won’t go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won’t be any AMERICA because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!” – Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller, USMC
“Paperwork will ruin any military force.” – Lieutenant-General Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller
“You don’t hurt ’em if you don’t hit ’em.” – Lieutenant-General Lewis B. Chesty Puller
At Koto-ri in Korea, when an Army captain asked for the direction of the line of retreat, Col Puller summoned his Tank Commander, relayed the Army’s position, and ordered, “If they start to pull back from that line, even one foot, I want you to open fire on them.” Turning back to the captain, Chesty Puller confidently replied, “Does that answer your question? We’re here to fight!” (Quote from “Marine: The Life of Chesty Puller” by Burke Davis)
“They are a damn sight better than the U.S. Army, at least we know that they will be there in the morning.” – Lewis B. Chesty Puller, when a journalist asked him about being surrounded by 22 enemy divisions
“There are not enough Chinamen in the world to stop a fully armed Marine regiment from going wherever they want to go.” – Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller
I can’t guarantee that these quotations are correct or true, but I have endeavored to verify as many of the quotes by Lewis Burwell Chesty Puller as possible. Please contact me if you find any errors in the Chesty Puller quotes, have additional information about them, or know any quotations from Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller that are not listed here. Submit your own quotes/quotations in our quotes forum.
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