Quotes

It's my firm conviction that when Uncle Sam calls, by God we go, and we do the best that we can.

Even though I disagree with many of the changes, when I see the privates graduate at the end of the day, when they walk off that drill field at the end of the ceremony, they are still fine privates; outstanding, well motivated privates.

I firmly believe that you live and learn, and if you don't learn from past mistakes, then you need to be drug out and shot.

The best part about the movie, and everybody seems to rave about it, is the boot camp part.

The bad news motivated the drill instructors that much more.

There was a huge, tremendous amount of disabled veterans and the Veteran's Administration just wasn't geared up for it. I know for a fact that it's getting better and better.

You'd be surprised how many kids and young people come to the website and send me email that they are actually going into the Marine Corp because of something that I said or did.

For me, it's an honor when the military asks me over to Iraq or Afghanistan or GITMO. I visit those places as much as possible. Also Austin - I've always enjoyed going there.

Communications are better now than in my Vietnam days.

I don't have any respect at all for the scum-bags who went to Canada to avoid the draft or to avoid doing their fair share.

Drill instructors worked seven days a week, fifteen to seventeen hours a day in many cases, with no time off in between platoons.

The biggest problem was the politicians knew nothing about fighting a war.

Back in those days, intimidation was the greatest tool any drill instructor had. Mindless obedience is what he's after; for that, he needs absolute and total control; for THAT, he's gotta be intimidating.

America's trying to do the best for its veterans.

I don't have to be concerned about everybody else's character.

I go the VA Hospital when I have a problem and the doctor jumps on me.

Without discipline, there is no Marine Corps.

Playing the good guy is tough because you know as well as I do, in real life, you have to watch your P's and Q's and conduct yourself in a respectable manner if you expect to have friends.

I'm never, like I say, I'm never happy, I'm never satisfied, it's never good enough.

There's a lot of whiners in every crowd.

Kubrick's films have life - they just never die.

I spend a lot of time with my characters.

I've never had to spend any time in the VA hospital, so I really can't speak for those guys.

Kubrick ate it up. He loved it. He just let me go crazy.

I firmly believe that, in order to give a solid performance, an actor's gotta have something he can bring to the table.

That's all I cared about too, was getting it right.

There have been a lot of changes in recruit training in the past twenty years.

We had times in '66 and '67 when we would pick up a platoon of privates out of the receiving barracks the week before we even graduated the platoon that we were on!

I play well with everybody.

It's been a pretty fun ride, to tell you the truth.

I disagree with a lot of those changes, however at the end of the day - I go down to recruit graduation at least once or twice a year.

Everybody respects the Vietnam Veterans of America.

I got space from Travis Air Force Base, went back to the Philippine Islands and made it a point to meet the only American casting director in the Philippines. I was off and running.

I honestly do feel that I am a role model for young people.

Back in the old Corps, we weren't training those privates to infiltrate into the peacetime Marine Corps. We were training those privates to go to Vietnam.

When you try to find funding for a VVA function, it doesn't seem like it's any trouble at all. People come out of the woodwork with their money to help out because we went over and fought a war.

Every character I've ever played, I always try to take him right to the edge and not allow him to fall over, but directors have a tendency to pull me back a little bit.

I got to write most of everything I said.

You can take a man out of the Corps, but you can't take the Corps out of the man.