Political Quotes

“``Always Ready, Always There''--that's the motto of the National Guard. That motto's engraved on this commander's coin, my commander's coin that I carry with me wherever I go. Before I came to Congress, I had the honor and the privilege and the responsibility, for 5 years, to exercise command over the Illinois Army and Air National Guard. I commanded 10,000 soldiers and 3,000 airmen. It was my responsibility to train them, equip them, and order them into war. Most of them came back--34 of them did not, 19 of them during my command. I carry those names with me in my breast pocket--ranks, names, ages, hometowns, units of assignment, date of death. What I don't carry are the two soldiers that I lost to suicide. I don't know why I don't have those names. I should have those names. They didn't come back either. Most of those soldiers that I ordered to go to war came home. Those few didn't. Many of them came home wounded, some of those wounds not visible. The first time a soldier under my command committed suicide, my staff came to me and said, General, are you going to go to the funeral? I said, Of course I'm going to the funeral. They said, Well, your predecessor didn't go to funerals for soldiers that committed suicide. I said, I do. We took them whole, sent them to war, and they came back broken. That's my responsibility. I go. Congressman Jim McDermott earlier spoke about responsibility.…”