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I'd learned a lot in the Army. I knew that above all things in the world I had to become so big, so strong that people and their hatred could never touch me.

I would sincerely regret, and which never shall happen whilst I am in office, a military guard around the President.

It was my duty to shoot the enemy, and I don't regret it. My regrets are for the people I couldn't save: Marines, soldiers, buddies. I'm not naive, and I don't romanticize war. The worst moments of my life have come as a SEAL. But I can stand before God with a clear conscience about doing my job.

I would have felt ashamed if I had not been part of the resistance and part of fighting back against the forces of the state.

But I would have executed much greater things, had not government always opposed my exertions, and placed others in situations which would have suited my talents.

As a soldier, I survived World War I when most of my comrades did not.

Frankly, I would not have made any difference in Vietnam, but much more is what difference it would have made in me.

I could have been known for something terrible.