Chesty Puller Quotes

We're surrounded. That simplifies our problem.

Sir, do you know they’ve cut us off? We’re entirely surrounded.” “Those poor bastards,” Puller said. “They’ve got us right where we want ’em. We can shoot in every direction now.

I was told by “Chesty” Puller* years ago, there is only a hairline’s difference between a Navy Cross and a general court-martial.

They're on our right, they're on our left, they're in front of us, they're behind us; they can't get away from us this time.

We’ve been looking for the enemy for several days now. We’ve finally found them. We’re surrounded. That simplifies our problem of getting to these people and killing them.

All right. They’re on our left. They’re on our right. They’re in front of us, they’re behind us. They can’t get away this time’.

The difference between success and failure in this life of ours is mostly hard work, so you must constantly work to try to improve yourself.

Take me to the Brig. I want to see the “real Marines”.

We must not be too proud or too stupid to profit by our mistakes—

Pain is just weakness leaving the body.

between our enlisted men and young officers and those of the Army. There appears to be no example of leadership in the latter organization. No pride and nothing to look up to. The truth is unknown. …

When I entered the service, the regulations stated that the object of all military training is “success in battle.” This short sentence has been rewritten on three pages and I defy anyone to read it over three or more times and then explain what the object of military training is.

So they’ve got us surrounded, good! Now we can fire in any direction, those bastards won’t get away this time!

All right. They’re on our left. They’re on our right. They’re in front of us, they’re behind us. They can’t get away this time.” —COLONEL LEWIS “CHESTY” PULLER

Mrs. Puller gave him a last-minute gift, a bathrobe. He thanked her tenderly, but growled to his staff: “I’ve got the world’s greatest wife, but my God, what do you do when she sends you off to war with a new red flannel bathrobe?” He had it secretly stowed away before boarding his transport, the U.S.S. Fuller.

You just simply cannot learn warfare in a schoolroom, or anywhere else except in combat. And you’ll never know whether you’re a fighting man until you’re under fire.

Our trouble is that common sense has gone out the window, and we make generals today on the basis of their ability to write a damned letter. Those kinds of men can’t get us ready for war.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.” —CHESTY PULLER

EASING PAIN WITH COUNTERSTRAIN “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” —CHESTY PULLER I’ve had every kind of bodywork you can imagine, and it all has some value. At the right time, a skilled chiropractor or masseuse is priceless. Most kinds of bodywork are based on the theory that pushing on tissue—massaging or kneading it—is fundamental to getting it to relax. So what if I were to tell you that the secret to easing pain lies in something as simple as some gentle repositioning? You might think: “Tony, that’s ridiculous.

Never underestimate the enemy, boys. If you don’t figure him to have as much sense as you’ve got you’ll have trouble.

One winter in Manila in the mid-1930s, Wylie walked into the wardroom of his ship, the heavy cruiser Augusta (Captain Chester W. Nimitz commanding), and encountered a “fist-banging argument” between two of the ship’s up-and-coming young officers. At issue was what it took to become skilled at rifle or pistol marksmanship. One officer, Lloyd Mustin, said that only someone born with a special gift could learn to do it well. The other, a marine named Lewis B. Puller, said, “I can take any dumb son of a bitch and teach him to shoot.” Mustin would go on to become one of the Navy’s pioneers in radar-controlled gunnery. Puller would ascend to general, the most decorated U.S. Marine in history. Gesturing to Wylie standing in the doorway, Chesty Puller declared, “I can even teach him.” A ten-dollar bet ensued. The next time the Augusta’s marine detachment found time to do their annual qualifications at the rifle range, Wylie was Puller’s special guest. And by the end of the experiment, he was the proud owner of a Marine medal designating him an expert rifleman. The experience helped Wylie understand both native gifts and teachable skills and predisposed him to work with the rural kids under him. Now he could smile when the sighting of an aircraft approaching at a distant but undetermined range came through the Fletcher’s bridge phones as, “Hey, Cap’n, here’s another one of them thar aero-planes, but don’t you fret none. She’s a fur piece yet.” Wylie was a good enough leader to appreciate what the recruits from the countryside brought to the game. “They were highly motivated,” he said. “They just came to fight.

The definition of military training is success in battle. In my opinion that is the only objective of military training. It wouldn’t make any sense to have a military organization on the backs of the American taxpayers with any other definition. I’ve believed that ever since I’ve been a Marine.

I’ll quote Napoleon. He stated that the most important thing in military training is discipline. Without discipline an army becomes a mob.

We’ll have to get over the idea that we’re the greatest people on earth in every respect, that we’re infallible and that no one else has ideas worth considering. One of the reasons we had to fight against odds on Guadalcanal was this insufferable American notion of superiority, and our carelessness in face of danger. It goes back to Pearl Harbor and far beyond.

The rare quality of outstanding leadership can come in many forms. Some inspire their followers with lofty words. Others command respect due to their unrivaled competence. Puller’s ability to motivate men came from a simpler source. His Marines knew that he would ask no more of them than he was willing to put forth himself, and that was everything he had. They knew that when they were putting their lives on the line, he would be right out front with them. They knew that he would zealously look out for their welfare and shield them as much as possible from both the daunting hardships and the petty troubles of a tough profession. They knew that he understood what they were going through and saw things from their point of view. He was, in their eyes, a lofty figure who was right at home among the lowliest of them. Few men can rise to greatness and still genuinely retain the common touch. Medals and rank never changed Puller; he possessed the heart of a private throughout his long career and his men idolized him for that simplicity. One editorial mourning his passing captured the result: “There were few Marines who would not have tried to establish a beachhead in hell at a nod from Chesty Puller.”2

We must not be too proud or too stupid to profit by our mistakes—and God knows we make ’em.

Commodore Stephen Decatur. And he said, ‘My country, may she always be right—but my country, right or wrong.

All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time.” Lewis B. Chesty Puller, USMC. The Battle at the "Frozen Chosen" Korean War – 1950.