Eric L. Haney > Quotes

“Inherited wealth may be easily squandered, but inherited poverty is a legacy almost impossible to loose.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“From the vantage point of my warm, comfortable spot on mother earth, I could see off into infinite space and the eternity of time. In just a few hours, I thought, some of us are going to make that leap into eternity. And I will be one of the instruments of that voyage. I may also be one of the travelers....It's going to happen sooner or later. But if today is my day-I'm going to have a cup of coffee first.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“I always love that 'we' part from a staff officer.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“War has also taught me that each one of us contains every ingredient of the human recipe. By varying measure we are all cowards and brave men, thieves and honest men, selfish and selfless men, malingerers and champions, weasels and lions. The only question is how much of each attribute we allow—or force—to dominate our being.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“The author, then in the final stage as a candidate for Delta Force, was asked by the unit's foreboding colonel what he thought of the evaluation's Stress Week. He responded that he was waiting for it to begin, reasoning that, used to responsibility for others while leading a platoon, he only had himself to worry about. However hard the trial, he got four meals a day, nobody shot at, him, and the weather was pleasant.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“If there is one thing that always sticks in my mind about how Delta Force goes about a mission, it is the utterly businesslike attitude of the men. There is none of that Hollywood crap. No posturing, no sloganeering, no high fives, no posing, no bluster, and no bombast. Just a quiet determination to get on with the job.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“What did I receive from this lineage? Things I consider to be very valuable: a good raw intellect and a good tough body. A sense of independence and a realization that wherever I am is my home. A sense of humor. A sense of personal honor that results in a touchiness common to our people. We are easily offended and prone to violence when offended. When the only thing you own is your sense of honor, you tend to protect it at all costs.”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“I am a nomad, son of an ancient line of nomads. The larger part of my family line is made up of the Scots-Irish, a people descended from that peculiar mixture of the Celts of the northern British Isles and the invading Danes and Norsemen. The result was a landless, illiterate, anarchic, and warlike people who were always difficult, if not downright impossible, to govern. They were a race the British Crown rightfully viewed as dangerous rebels,”
― Eric Haney, Inside Delta Force

“It was easier to think of being shot than of shooting a mate.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“I do not believe there was any other officer in the United States Army who had the integrity, the perseverance, and the sheer guts to do the job Charlie Beckwith did in forming and breathing life into 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment—Delta. And at the end of a life’s season, that was one hell of a harvest to bring in.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Inherited wealth may be something easily squandered”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“coordination. But no one would ever dictate tactics to us or tell us how to risk our own lives.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Until Colonel Beckwith slammed his foot down, we had the all-too-common phenomenon of a mission being planned by men who wouldn’t be taking part in it and putting their own lives at risk.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Save us from the help of the well-meaning.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“What was the lesson here? Simple. Don’t quit. Never quit no matter what. Keep going until someone tells you to sit down. Keep going as long as you’re able to move”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“He was a commander who wouldn’t send you where he wouldn’t go himself and always acted on what he thought was in the best interests of the nation, the Army, and the unit . . . and damn the consequences to his career.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Flying low enough, to borrow a phrase from Dr. Strangelove, “to fry chickens in the barnyard.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Then he gave me a fierce look and said”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“With that as a given”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“There is no better way for an organization to improve itself and move forward in a professional manner. But it is a process that must be fundamentally rooted in trust and mutual respect. The very instant it becomes a weapon rather than a lens for diagnostic analysis, the process is dead.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“That’s just great. Really what we needed to top off this extravaganza. I couldn’t remember anyone ever surviving a C-130 ditching. This last act was going to be a real crowd pleaser.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“The only thing that mattered was speed and ground made good. My destination was determined by time; the physical position of that ultimate destination was only incidental to my reason for being here. The frustration and mental torture I had been suffering were completely of my own making—and completely within my power to disregard.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“So I say to you all: Maintain courage. Have hope. Be patient but at the same time be vigilant. And tonight”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Just as there are no old”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“Avoiding situations and places that can become problems is the name of the game.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“The ferocity of the attack stunned me. It was like being struck by lightning—a pure and elemental force.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“J.T. hated parachuting—said he was terrified of it. I was jump-mastering a jump one day”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“a real treat: we went out to the”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“I had not just survived an ordeal”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit

“The frustration and mental torture I had been suffering were completely of my own making—and completely within my power to disregard.”
― Eric L. Haney, Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit