Historical Quotes for Educational Content.

[please try to keep the sentence a little slower. Giving short pauses at each comma] "Last night, one of our boys was found shot and his stomach cut open. Immediately, orders were received from General Wheaton to burn the town and kill every native in sight, which was done...About one thousand men, women and children were reported killed. [Small sigh] I am probably growing hard-hearted, for I am in my glory when I can sight my gun on some dark skin and pull the trigger. - A.A. Barnes of Battery G, 3rd Artillery"

[Commenting in response to a reporter/journalist](somewhat angry)
"I personally strung up thirty-five Filipinos without trial, so what was all the fuss over Waller's 'dispatching' a few 'treacherous savages'? If there had been more Smiths and Wallers, the war would have been over long ago. Impromptu domestic hanging might also hasten the end of the war. For starters, all Americans who had recently petitioned Congress to sue for peace in the Philippines, should be dragged out of their homes and lynched. - Major General Frederick Funston"

“We are now arrayed to meet a common foe, men of our own hue and color. Whether it is right to reduce these people to submission is not a question for soldiers to decide. Our oaths of allegiance know neither race, color, nor nation. -  Commissary Sergeant, Middleton W. Saddler"

[commenting of support of the war shortly before the presidential election] 
"We do not want the Filipinos. We want the Philippines. The islands are enormously rich, but unfortunately they are infested with Filipinos. There are many millions there, and it is to be feared their extinction will be slow. The use of techniques that would impress the Malayan mind, by the rack, the thumbscrew, the trial by fire, the trial by molten lead, and boiling insurgents alive.”  

[Commenting on the captivity conditions and events in captivity that this man endured for weeks. Bit shy and shaken still.](Speaking a little slower then usual)
“Upon arrival, we were stripped, made to watch our uniforms get ripped to pieces, and then given a blanket to cover up with. Placed in a cell with just the blanket and fed just only 250 grams of bread and a pint of cabbage soup, we weren't allowed out except to empty the waste bucket. After two days I was taken before a so called American who asked for my name, number, and date of birth, then returned to to my cell. Left alone, a British POW would come in from time to time, offering cigarettes and conduct idle chit-chat. - John Eric Wilson”

[Line of dialogue on a spoofed photo of his own death, meant to be over dramatic]
“The corpse which you see here is that of M. Bayard, inventor of the process that has just been shown to you. As far as I know this indefatigable experimenter has been occupied for about three years with his discovery. The Government which has been only too generous to Monsieur Daguerre, has said it can do nothing for Monsieur Bayard, and the poor wretch has drowned himself. Oh the vagaries of human life....... He has been at the morgue for several days, and no-one has recognized or claimed him. Ladies and gentlemen, you'd better pass along for fear of offending your sense of smell, for as you can observe, the face and hands of the gentleman are beginning to decay.... inhale .... You know.... you made me talk a lot for a dead man.... not gonna lie, we could have made that shorter.. like.... a lot shorter. short pause  Aww crap, we're still live, aren't we?”

[Was asked by a reporter why he fought against the Spanish for independence.]
“I wanted to make the Rif an independent country like France and Spain, and to set up there a free state with full sovereignty and not an Amirate, subject to the regulations and ordinances of the Protectorate... From the first, I tried to make my people understand that they could not survive unless they were as closely joined together as are the bricks of a building, and unless they worked with sincerity and loyalty to form a national unity from tribes with different inclinations and aspirations....Sigh.. In other words, I wanted my people to know that they had a nation, as well as a religion- Abd el-Krim“ [Pronounced Add-El-Cream]

[Frustrated by the conduct of the other officers, and the poor condition for the regular troops in this war.]
“Everyone in Northern Morocco knew that many of the Spanish officers spent their time whoring and gambling in Melilla, Ceuta and Larache; knew what happened to the stores, and the fate of the men's pay. Some officers never saw their regiments, but contented themselves with parading like peacocks through the streets, while the half-starved youths of Spain in shoddy, torn clothes wandered miserably through the Riff hills. Not knowing where they were going, or even why they were engaged in this fantastic adventure. Their one desire was to return to Spain and their own homes. - Captain F.H Mellor”

“ Such organizations were to serve the diplomatic interests of the Reich, not the interests of a nationalist revival in France. If the Legion had ever become truly popular, German support would in all probability have waned or been withdrawn. The limitation on the size of the Legion was an early indication of the restrictive German attitude towards the growth of collaborationist power. No collaborationist leader would ever receive German support for a nationalist movement in France. The LVF, like all their other enterprises, was destined for failure at the moment of birth”

[Writing home to his mother and father after a long battle with the enemy.]
“The waterlogged terrain could not absorb the rainfall. Within just a few hours rain, the roads would be transformed into a bog. and one walked in mud up to their knees.. It has now been raining for two days and nights in a row, and most men fled their bunkers last night around one o'clock, because they feared drowning there. If this continues, we'll have to live above ground, and be eaten alive by either the hundreds of mosquitoes, or Soviet bullets.- Per Sorensen, Captain of First company.” [pronounced Pear-Sore-Ensing]

[Writing to his superiors who refuse to give him aid]
"The final solution to the problem lies in the mastery of Dehdadi [pronounced De-Haad-ee]  and Balkh [pronounced Baulk]. There is no manpower for this. It needs a technique. The issue would be resolved if I received 200 gas grenades and the guns. In addition, it is necessary to make the detachment more maneuverable, to give me a squadron of thugs... I have been denied a squadron, aviation, and gas grenades. Failure violates the basic condition: take Mazar, then help. If you can expect that the situation will change and we will get help, I will defend the city. If help cannot be counted on, then I will play all-in and go to take Dehdadi [pronounced De-Haad-ee]. If I take it, then we are masters of the situation. No, then we’ll turn to a gang and look for ways to go home.- Vitaly Primakov”