It’s the Marine Corps Reserve’s Birthday: Get Inspired by These 25 Quotes About the Military Branch

Today — August 29, 2024 — is the 108th birthday of the Marine Corps Reserve. For anyone unaware, members of the Marine Corps Reserve “ are trained in combat and can be mobilized for active duty in time of war, national emergency, or contingency operations.”

Celebrate their birthday with these 25 inspirational quotes from current and former members of the Marine Corps, as well as admirers!

1. “ Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem.”

― President Reagan

2. “Freedom is not free, but the U.S. Marine Corps will pay most of your share.”

― Ned Dolan, Marine veteran and CIA officer

3. “ A Marine is a Marine. I set that policy two weeks ago - there's no such thing as a former Marine. You’re a Marine, just in a different uniform and you’re in a different phase of your life. But you’ll always be a Marine because you went to Parris Island, San Diego or the hills of Quantico. There’s no such thing as a former Marine.”

― General James F. Amos, (First aviator to serve as U.S.M.C. Commandant, 2008 to 2010)

4. “ Marines are built through the ethos of struggle and sacrifice.”

― General James L. Jones of the Marine Corps.

5. “The Marine Corps was the first father figure I had ever known.”

― Art Buchwald, Pulitzer prize-winning newspaper columnist

6. “ I have just returned from visiting the Marines at the front, and there is not a finer fighting organization in the world!”

― Douglas MacArthur, American military leader

7. “For over 221 years our Corps has done two things for this great Nation. We make Marines, and we win battles.”

― Charles C. Krulak, Retired United States Marine Corps General

8. “‘Hardness,’ I was learning , was the supreme virtue among recon Marines. The greatest compliment one could pay to another was to say he was hard. Hardness wasn't toughness, nor was it courage, although both were part of it. Hardness was the ability to face an overwhelming situation with aplomb, smile calmly at it, and then triumph through sheer professional pride.”

― Nathaniel Fick, author and former USMC officer

9. “ I've always been proud of being a Marine. I won't hesitate to defend the Corps.”

― Jonathan Winters, World War II Marine veteran, later actor and comedian

10. “In the Marine Corps, I was used to people doing what they said and saying what they mean. There was a higher purpose and calling in the Corps. Everyone works toward accomplishing something together, and there's a common goal. In entertainment, the same isn't always true. You're in it for yourself in Hollywood.”

― Rob Riggle, actor and comedian and Marines lieutenant colonel

11. “ I'm not scared of very much. I've been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years.”

― Lee Trevino, Hall of Fame golfer

12. I loved being in the Marine Corps, I loved my job in the Marine Corps, and I loved the people I served with. It's one of the best things I've had a chance to do."

― Adam Driver, actor and former Marine

13. “We have a saying in the Marine Corps and that is 'no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine.' We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second.”

― John F. Kelly, retired Marine general and former chief of staff to President Trump

14. “ Men do not fight for flag or country, for the Marine Corps or glory or any other abstraction. They fight for one another. And if you came through this ordeal, you would age with dignity.”

― William Manchester, author and World War II Marine

15. "A ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons."

– Admiral David D. Porter, USN, 1863

16. “They (Women Marines) don't have a nickname, and they don't need one. They get their basic training in a Marine atmosphere, at a Marine Post. They inherit the traditions of the Marines. They are Marines.”

– Lieutenant General Thomas Holcomb, USMC, 1943

17. “You cannot exaggerate about the Marines. They are convinced to the point of arrogance, that they are the most ferocious fighters on earth – and the amusing thing about it is that they are.”

– Kevin Keaney, attorney

18. Old breed? New breed? There’s not a damn bit of difference so long as it’s the Marine breed.”

– Chesty Puller, United States Marine Corps Officer

19. “The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank God for the United States Marine Corps! ”

– Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States

20. “I'm not scared of very much. I've been hit by lightning and been in the Marine Corps for four years.”

– Lee Trevino, Professional Golfer and former Marine

21. “In the Marine Corps, we're taught to put America above ourselves.”

– Todd Young, United States Senator

22. “I do not believe I could have built FedEx without the skills I learned from the Marine Corps.”

– Frederick W. Smith, Former CEO of FedEx

23. “Spread the gospel that the Marine Corps is a force that has changed. We're not in 1942 anymore.”

– General James F. Amos, Four-Star 35th Commandant of the Marine Corps

24. “Whatever the job is, we can do it. That's why the nation has a Marine Corps.”

– General Amos

25. “One day, you'll get out of the Marine Corps; you'll put your uniform up, but you'll never not be a Marine.”

– John F. Kelly