Chester W. Nimitz War Quotations

No other island received as much preliminary pounding as did Iwo Jima.

The enemy of our games was always Japan, and the courses were so thorough that after the start of World War II, nothing that happened in the Pacific was strange or unexpected.

We must not again underestimate the Japanese.

Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue.

It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil.

The battle of Iwo Island has been won. The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.

A ship is always referred to as 'she' because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder.

When I assumed command of the Pacific Fleet in 31 December, 1941; our submarines were already operating against the enemy, the only units of the Fleet that could come to grips with the Japanese for months to come. It was to the Submarine Force that I looked to carry the load until our great industrial activity could produce the weapons we so sorely needed to carry the war to the enemy. It is to the everlasting honor and glory of our submarine personnel that they never failed us in our days of peril.

THEY FOUGHT TOGETHER AS BROTHERS-IN-ARMS. THEY DIED TOGETHER AND NOW THEY SLEEP SIDE BY SIDE. TO THEM WE HAVE A SOLEMN OBLIGATION.

It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy so that it is not fought on U.S. soil.