- Kerrigan: [after a jumpy Murphy shoots at his own image in a mirror] Man, that's the first time I ever seen a Texan beat himself to the draw.
- Kerrigan: The 36th is a Texas outfit. Somebody's got to give them a hand.
- Audie Murphy: They were doing all right until they started drafting you Yankees.
- Narrator: War, to the foot soldier, is a continual fight for a few yards of dirt that always seemed to lie ahead of him, to be taken from the enemy or to be held at all costs. Why? As often as not he doesn't know in regard to the overall campaign. On Sicily, all he knew was that he took the entire island in 38 days - What he had accomplished gave the Allies a giant base of operation close to the Italian mainland.
- Narrator: For the next couple of months the 3rd division continually engaged the enemy. As usual, the foot soldier wasn't concerned with why. His greatest concerns were a vicious German defense, the fact that Italy was one mountain after another, and that weather conditions were impossible.
- Johnson: He doesn't want you for friends. That's why he did it. You see, when you guys have been in the line as long as we have, you find out it's no good to make friends. Because when a friend gets it, well, it's rough on you. The buddies that come with you, you're stuck with, but you don't make no new ones. It's the dyin' truth.
- Johnson: Get through the first three or four days, you'll be just like us. That's what it means to be a veteran: You're scared all the time.
- Lt. Manning: At 0500 we'll open up with small arms fire. The 7th will move across at the same time. I'm sure the Jerries will throw some entertainment our way.
- Audie Murphy: I think you can count on it, Lieutenant.
- Kerrigan: [Observing the starving Italian orphans picking through garbagr cans] They picked a great time to be born, didn't they?
- Marine Recruiting Sergeant: It'll take more than a letter from your guardian to get you into this outfit, sonny. We separate the men from the boys but we like to have something to start with. Why don't you try the Navy?