Phil Klay

I've certainly thought a lot more about things like tyranny and patriotism and violence. I think I found some kind of clarity - definitely a thicker understanding.

I was studying with Peter Carey, Colum McCann; but also, my fellow students were really critical readers for me.

In the Marine Corps, you meet this really broad segment of the country; you're working with people from all kinds of backgrounds. And it exposes you to the American military, particularly the American military at war.

I like the ethos of the military and the idea of joining an institution in which, at the very least, everyone who signs up believes in something.

It's very strange getting out of the military, when you've lived in Iraq, and people you know are going overseas again and again. Some of them are getting injured.

Redeployment' is a military term. It means to transfer a unit from one area to another.

In State of the Union addresses, I always look at the foreign policy and military parts first, which are generally pretty minimal.

We're so used to using military terminology in civilian speech that we forget those terms might mean something very specific.

There's a tendency to look at anybody who joined the military as if they underwrote everything that happened policy-wise. That's not really the case. I have a friend who both protested the Iraq War and joined the military, and ended up serving two deployments in Afghanistan.

There's a very particular way that the military speaks. There's a lot of profanity and a lot of acronyms.

One thing I've always liked about the military is there's a certain amount of pragmatism.

The civilian wants to respect what the veteran has gone through. The veteran wants to protect memories that are painful and sacred to him from outside judgment.