Veteran

“ It gives me great pleasure to look into your faces and clasp your hands as veteran soldiers of the most splendid example of heroic devotion to an undying principle and allegiance to a failing cause that the world has ever known. ”

“ Today a warrior all sunbrown, When deeds of soldierly renown Are not the boast of London town, A veteran tomorrow, today a warrior, A veteran tomorrow! When at my Leonard's deeds sublime, A soldier's pulse beats double time, And grave hearts thrill as brave hearts will At tales of martial glory. I burn with flush of pride and joy, A pride unbittered by alloy, To find my boy, my darling boy, The theme of song and story, To find my darling boy The theme of song and story! ”

“ The battered veteran, hero of some of the most remarkable military adventures that history has ever recorded,' fought his way on foot, in the midst of the fray, like a young ensign who had his first laurels to win. ”

“ It is no wonder that the veteran lifts his hat in deference and reverence to these aged women, and perhaps his thoughts wander to the time, fast approaching, when both shall answer the last "roll call." ”

“ In a man of military aspect—an old veteran with snow-white hair, and grand moustaches of like hue—such as he who is seated at the table—you would scarce expect to meet the lover of a study so pacific in its character as that of natural history? ”

“ You lost your poise through excitement, not cowardice, and he, young and all undisciplined, has witnessed scenes that might appall a veteran. But now all must be courage and action. Since you will remain with me you must be a soldier, and be armed like one. Come with me to my room, and I will give you a small revolver. ”

“ One old man, bent and crippled beyond belief, clung for support to a veteran only one degree less frail on either side, and even then his feet dragged wearily and his body tottered as they led him slowly on. ”

“ How we lend our own impulses to the effort with which the veteran grasps the sword wherewith he shore "the stalwart Englisher," strive with him in that strong yearning to whirl it aloft, sink with him in the instant, nerveless reaction, and sorrow that "a child could slay Richelieu now!" ”

“ No dissolute camp has worn off from the feelings of the youthful soldier the freshness of that home, where his mother and his sisters sit waiting, with tearful eyes and aching hearts, to hear good news from the wars; no long service in the ranks of a conqueror has turned the veteran’s heart into marble. Their valor springs not from recklessness, from habit, from indifference to the preservation of a life knit by no pledges to the life of others ”

“ In social intercourse, I never was so pleased as when I could fasten myself to some practical veteran,—question and cross-examine him. One picks up more ideas in conversation than from books; at least I do. Besides, my idea of a soldier who is to succeed some day is not that of a mere mechanician-at-arms. ”

“ At the venerable age of seventy-five, with an emaciated form, a withered face, and a grey head, the veteran did not even suspect that he was growing old, far less know that he was really an aged man, who had already exceeded the average duration of a human life. ”

“ Look at the gallant veteran, who nobly led your martial bands in the hour of extreme danger, whose patriotic soul acknowledged no other principle than that his life was the property of his country, and who evinced it by his repeated exposures to a vengeful enemy. ”

“ That veteran regular—let us separate him from the crowd—is a type I have often seen, a type that has become as familiar as one's neighbours in one's own town. We will call him the tenth man. That is, of every ten men who went to the front a year ago in his battalion, nine are gone. All of the hardships and all of the terrors of war he has witnessed: men dropped neatly by a bullet; men mangled by shells. ”

“ It is in such extremities that your veteran shows up well. He does not betray any discomfort. Not he. He rather enjoys the prospect, in fact, of being permitted to place the master's golden eloquence on paper. ”

“ This generation has passed on to other things. It looks upon the hero as an illustration in the story of the war, which it reads like history. The veteran starts out from the shelter of the Home. One evening, towards sunset, the comfortable citizen, taking the mild air on his piazza, sees an interesting figure approach. Its dress is half military, half that of the wanderer whose attention to his personal appearance is only spasmodic. ”

“ I yet desire it, when, consistently with the duties and obligations which I owe, I can honorably retire. No veteran soldier, covered with scars and wounds, inflicted in many severe battles, and hard campaigns ever received his discharge with more pleasure, than I should mine. ”

“ Third phase of the action: a veteran bowed beneath the weight of his equipment strives to join them—for all who have strength enough must march to battle. Another old man, bowed with age, follows the soldiers with his prayers, and the gesture of his hand seems to repeat the counsels that he has given them from his own experience. ”

“ The Veteran can pity those who hate him, and defy the gurgling giggle of his scorners242—in the words of Sam Johnson, "he remembers who kicked him last." He who smote with the sword of the Lord and of Abraham safely ignores an effervescence of mouth-vapor. ”

“ The naval veteran of to-day, working his chin industriously to keep his teeth tight and vigorously dodging as best he may the wiles of the world, the flesh and the politicians, complains at times that scant allusion crops out in war reunions to episodes wherein he figures lustrously. ”

“ Scattered here and there over this broad country to-day are many veteran soldiers who are good readers and writers, some of them even fair scholars, who took their first lessons from some manly officer or no less manly fellow-soldier in the manner mentioned, during such camp intervals as were allowed by the dread arbitrament of war. ”

“ A valuable stake was then offered, and an aged veteran stepped forth, and looking round upon his nation with a majestic mien, in which there was not a little expression of triumph, he seemed to challenge the bravest of the brave to come forward and compete with him for the possession of it ”

“ There is something finely appealing in the thought of a veteran campaigner [72] in the army of life who doesn’t wait for the bugle to sound reveille, but kindles his fire and eats his ration before his young comrades are awake. ”

“ That is why our work is incident on yours, and, when we quote your writings, we do so less from admiration of the incomparable talent which produced them than as aspiring to continue the same task at a great distance, young soldiers as we are of a cause of which you are the most glorious veteran. ”

“ The veteran laughed at the knowledge of the raw recruit, wondered where the utility of that information was, boasted of superior practical knowledge, and good-naturedly taught the raw recruit the more useful lessons of how to march easily, sleep well, provide himself with little luxuries, and how to take care of himself generally. The veteran had curious modes of making himself comfortable, which the raw recruit learned only from practice. Camp the veteran in a forest over night, and he would sleep under his shelter-tent raised high and made commodious, and on a soft bed of dry leaves. ”

“ At the first streak of dawn, the veteran might be seen mounted on his mule, with the garb and air of a common soldier, riding about in the different quarters of the capital, sometimes superintending the manufacture of arms, or providing military stores, and sometimes drilling his men, for he was most careful always to maintain the strictest discipline.14 His restless spirit seemed to find no pleasure but in incessant action ”

“ It is the veteran soldier, who, seeing the flash of the cannon, can step aside from the path of the ball. Use makes a better soldier than the most urgent considerations of duty,—familiarity with danger enabling him to estimate the danger. ”

“ For what else shall we believe to be the reason why you, a veteran general, most valiant in war, sit down with hands folded, as they say. But however it may be, it is fitter that you should seem to doubt of our courage than we of yours. ”

“ Those who saw our returned veterans parading in clean uniforms have little idea of their appearance in battle, their clothes matted with mud, their faces grey as the shell-gashed earth from exhaustion, when they had given the last ounce of their strength against the enemy. ”

“ He knew so much about war, arms, tents, knapsacks, ammunition, marching, fighting, camping, cooking, shooting, and everything a soldier is and does. It is remarkable how much a recruit and how little an old soldier knows about such things. After a while the recruit forgets all, and is as ignorant as any veteran. ”

“ Six hundred Foy’s History. were in hospital, and the whole were discouraged. It is in such situations that the worth of a veteran is found: in battle the ardour of youth often appears to shame the cool indifference of the old soldier, but when the strife is between the malice of fortune and fortitude, between human endurance and accumulating hardships, the veteran becomes truly formidable, when the young soldier resigns himself to despair. ”

“ The novice in the military art flew from point to point, retarding his own preparations by the excess of his violent and somewhat distempered zeal; while the more practiced veteran made his arrangements with a deliberation that scorned every appearance of haste; ”

“ To those veterans who still stand above the waves of time, living monuments of England’s heroism, in Arctic ice or Africa’s sun, we owe all honour and love and veneration. They are the old soldiers of an army, passed from the world, and when Time sums up the record of their service here below, it will be but to hand up the roll to the Tribunal of the Future. ”

“ For the soldier, when his time is ended, lays aside his arms, and leaving the rank which he held, is dismissed as a veteran to his own land, that he may obtain rest after the toils of a laborious life, and cause others to be more ready to undergo labour in the hope of future repose. ”

“ One would suppose these accidents would operate as a cooler, and allay in some degree the warmth of his passion. But our heroic veteran still triumphs over every obstacle, and the hey-day of his blood still beats high ”

“ Young, though a veteran; hardy, intrepid, sensitive in honor, full of engaging qualities, with manly beauty; possessed of genius, a favorite with the army, and with Grant and Sherman. Both Generals have generously acknowledged their professional obligiations to the able engineer and admirable soldier, their subordinate and junior. ”

“ I cannot describe my feelings as I saw those columns of veterans march by, knowing so well what they had endured, and what they had accomplished. I was proud to call them comrades. Nor did I forget the many thousands of brave men who died that their country might live. I thought sadly of my companions in arms, whose faces I missed when my regiment passed by; they will never be forgotten until I too have joined the grand army of the dead. ”

“ One who observes the discipline which I have established, would take my little army to be a body of picked veterans; and, to see the love and harmony that reigns amongst us, he would be apt to look upon it as a large well-ordered family, in which every one loves another better than himself. ”

“ These expressions of grateful obligation gave the retired veteran a right to associate his own fame with that of the successful pupil to whose progress to fortune and renown he had, by his early notice and encouragement, so greatly contributed. ”

“ This weekend we commemorate Veterans Day, a day when America honors every man and woman who has worn the uniform of our military. In Veterans Day celebrations across our Nation, we remember those who have served in previous wars, those who are serving today, and those who did not live to become veterans. Especially in a time of war, we see in our veterans an example of people who stepped forward to serve a cause larger than themselves. ”

“ Those who have fought the battles of the war on terror and served the cause of freedom can be proud of all they have achieved. And these veterans of battle will carry with them, for all their days, the memory of the ones who did not live to be called veterans. Each man or woman we have laid to rest had hopes for the future, and left a place that can never be filled. ”

“ Veteran soldier and raw recruit, bugler, baker, and farrier, man who came to fight and man who came to write about it, all had been turned into navvies, diggers, drivers of piles, or of horses, or wheelbarrows, by the man who turned everybody into his own teetotum. ”

“ Veterans of half a century! when in your youthful days you put every thing at hazard in your country’s cause, good as that cause was, and sanguine as youth is, still your fondest hopes did not stretch onward to an hour like this! At a period to which you could not reasonably have expected to arrive, at a moment of national prosperity such as you could never have foreseen, you are now met here to enjoy the fellowship of old soldiers, and to receive the overflowings of a universal gratitude. ”

“ So unbounded is military glory in a brave man! Shall, then, a veteran soldier be able to behave in this manner, and shall a wise and learned man not be able? Surely the latter might be 80able to bear pain better, and in no small degree either. ”

“ These old veterans of glory are not here to shake our hands; they have risen from the bloody battlefield of earth to the sun lit hills of eternity and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Some that I met two years ago are not here tonight to shake our hands, to be with us in this farewell exercise, where are they? ”