Since 1945, no one in the U.S. military has liked the end result of the military conflicts we’ve been in: Vietnam, Korea, certainly Iraq, and probably Afghanistan. But in a democracy, you salute. – John F. Kelly
Years ago, people didn’t wear seatbelts. Now, most people wouldn’t get in a car without putting a seatbelt on. – John F. Kelly
If there’s a country, and it’s dangerous, and we deploy a U.S.military man or woman, if there’s only one there, and they never leave the capital, that is ‘boots on the ground.’ – John F. Kelly
If you want to get into the United States, the best way, I believe, is to ride the network. There is no convergence between, say, the criminal networks and the Islamic extremist networks. – John F. Kelly
One day, you’ll get out of the Marine Corps; you’ll put your uniform up, but you’ll never not be a Marine. – John F. Kelly
I’ve learned that, in many cases, people say, ‘I want ground truth,’ and they don’t really mean it. There are warts all over this organization, as there are in many organizations, but you just have to tell truth to power and let the chips fall where they may. – John F. Kelly
If there’s a country, and it’s dangerous, and we deploy a U.S. military man or woman, if there’s only one there, and they never leave the capital, that is ‘boots on the ground.’ We do a disservice to the sacrifice of these people, particularly if they are killed, when we say there’s no boots on the ground. – John F. Kelly
My fear was of being offered a job that would be kind of a full-time position at a veterans organization or even in the government… I’d prefer to not be that, to come up the Beltway every day. – John F. Kelly
I grew up in Boston in a very, very, very Marine town. So back in my neighborhood in Boston, a working-class neighborhood, when you got your draft notice, you went down, and you took your draft physical. And then, if you passed it, you joined the Marine Corps. – John F. Kelly
The comforting news for every American is that our men and women in uniform, and every Marine, is as good today as any in our history. – John F. Kelly
Given the opportunity to do another 9/11, our vicious enemy would do it today, tomorrow, and every day thereafter. I don’t know why they hate us, and I frankly don’t care, but they do hate us and are driven irrationally to our destruction. – John F. Kelly
I guess, over time, I had convinced myself that I could imagine what it would be like to lose a son or daughter. You try to imagine it so that you can write the right kind of letters or form the right words to try to comfort. But you can’t even come close. It is unimaginable. – John F. Kelly
Whether you’re a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth. Otherwise, the decisions they make could be flawed – and that can be dangerous. – John F. Kelly
We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift He could bestow to man while he lived on this earth -freedom. We also believe He gave us another gift nearly as precious – our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines – to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can ever steal it away. – John F. Kelly
The one thing I was always told is you absolutely have to tell truth to power. Whether you’re a second lieutenant working with a captain and a lieutenant colonel, or a four-star general working with the Office Secretary of Defense and the White House, the decision makers have got to have ground truth. – John F. Kelly
I work for one man. His name is Donald Trump. He has told me one thing: ‘Secure the border.’ – John F. Kelly
Unless confronted by an immediate, visible, or uncomfortable crisis, our nation’s tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted. – John F. Kelly
The young people I work with every day and serve the nation in the armed forces in general, and the Marine Corps in particular, have broken the mold and stepped out as men and women of character who are making their own way in life while protecting ours. – John F. Kelly
We have a saying in the Marine Corps and that is ‘no better friend, no worse enemy, than a U.S. Marine.’ We always hope for the first, friendship, but are certainly more than ready for the second. – John F. Kelly
