Michael J. MacLeod > Quotes

“If a soldier wants to drive from Fort Bragg to Myrtle Beach over the weekend (135 miles), before doing so, he must complete some ten pages of paperwork that includes getting his car inspected by his NCO, declaring a travel route and safe-driving plan, and taking a driving safety quiz (the same one he took last weekend and the weekend before that). If he wants to drive farther than 150 miles, he also needs a mileage pass, signed by his company commander. Sometimes the Friday-afternoon paperwork takes longer than the drive. Every junior enlisted soldier in the Devil Brigade must also submit a plan of what he intends to do each weekend and every holiday, and his sergeant must perform a risk assessment against that plan. I am not making this up.”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service

“As the ancient Greek poet, Pindar, said over twenty-four centuries ago, 'Unsung, the noblest deed will die”
― Michael J Macleod

“The whole point of their spectacular, yet limited, attacks was to manipulate the media into fanning fear and sectarian violence through one-sided reporting,”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service

“Grizzled old Drill Sergeant Engler loved to prowl for nodders. He would close nose-to-nose before spit-yelling in some sandbagged face, or pull the chair from beneath the dozer, or throw a rubber ball at him while screaming, “Wake up, you effing re-re!” Effing re-re was a practical and apparently allowable”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service

“before”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service

“But why do Al Qaeda’s bidding with the constant doomsday proselytizing that the facts don’t support?”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service

“The best soldiers were good soldiers not because they worked well in a bureaucracy, but rather, because they soldiered well in spite of bureaucracy. They soldiered on because they embraced the nature of military life, which is service.”
― Michael J Macleod

“Docs say PTSD is a real thing, and I will take their word for it,” Hurndon said. “I’ve been in quite a few firefights, and it hasn’t affected me, but maybe it will later.”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service

“When a civilian sees a formation of soldiers marching, he sees soldiers marching. When a soldier sees soldiers marching, he sees the sacrifices of spouses, fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and other invested hearts as soldiers train for, fight, and return from mortal combat that might turn out very badly for any of them.”
― Michael J Macleod

“However, as in life, it’s important not to confuse rank with authority. Rank dictates, authority leads. Rank is what grade you are, authority is what you’ve done, what you can do, and how you act.”
― Michael J. MacLeod, The Brave Ones: A Memoir of Hope, Pride and Military Service