Adem

“There was this verse, which I have seen countless times, before and since, the direct and unpolished cry of a marine’s sardonic heart: And when he gets to Heaven To St. Peter he will tell: One more Marine reporting, sir — I’ve served my time in Hell.”
― Robert Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific

“Insanity had been my foremost fear since the moment I had vaulted over the side of the Higgins Boat on Guadalcanal and seen those spiky fronds swinging overhead. To be killed — even to be taken prisoner by a cruel and vindictive foe — seemed preferable to madness.”
― Robert Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific

“But I could not answer the first question, for I did not know what I had gotten out of it, or even that I was supposed to profit. Now I know. For myself, a memory and the strength of ordeal sustained; for my son, a priceless heritage; for my country, sacrifice.”
― Robert Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific

“I had to force my face into a mask of mourning, deliberately adorn my heart with black, as it were, for I was shocked to gaze inward and see no sorrow there. Rather than permit myself to know myself a monster (as I seemed, then) I deliberately deluded myself by feigning bereavement. So did we all.”
― Robert Leckie, Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific