"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy course; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
~ Theodore Roosevelt ~

"The Vietnam veteran remains the object of fantasy, not an object of history. And this is not always a bad thing. With every accusation directed against the vet as “committing atrocities,” comes the laudatory image of the vet as superhuman warrior. And with every attempt to portray the Vietnam veteran as being “just another soldier,” comes the risk of marginalization from mainstream American interests. Today Americans are interested in Vietnam veterans, perhaps fancifully to be sure, but for reasons now increasingly obvious. The war, despite being on the other side of the globe, never left America, and despite South Vietnam’s 1975 surrender, has never ceased to be fought in the combat zone always most important to Americans: the United States"

Nathan Alexander


"In a time of war the nation is always of one mind, eager to hear something good of themselves and ill of the enemy. At this time the task of the news-writer is easy; they have nothing to do but to tell that a battle is expected, and afterwards that a battle has been fought, in which we and our friends, whether conquering or conquered, did all, and our enemies did nothing."
Johnson: (November 11, 1758)