29 Inspiring Military Retirement Quotes

When someone retires from the military, normally after many years of service, they should be honored for their bravery and dedication to the country. It takes someone special to pledge their life to the defence of their homeland.

So if you know of anyone about to or has retired from the armed forces then you might be wanting to send them some retirement wishes. If so then these military retirement quotes are perfect for including in a retirement card or quoting to them as a congratulations.

Military Retirement Quotes

• “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes” – Maya Angelou
• “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them” – John F. Kennedy
• “Land of the free because of the brave” – Annonymous
• “The veterans of our military services have put their lives on the line to protect the freedoms that we enjoy. They have dedicated their lives to their country and deserve to be recognized for their commitment” – Judd Gregg
• “Never was so much owed by so many to so few” – Winston Churchill
• “What you leave behind is not what is engraved on stone monuments but what is woven into the hearts of others” – Pericles
• “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave …” – Patrick Henry
• “The number of medals on an officer’s breast varies in inverse proportion to the square of the distance of his duties from the front line” – Charles Edward Montague
• “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same” – Ronald Reagan
• “Age is only a number, a cipher for the records. A man can’t retire his experience. He must use it” – Bernard Baruch
• “In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot” – Mark Twain
• “The Marines will never disappoint the expectations of their country – never!” Captain C.W. Morgan, U.S. Navy

SEE MORE: Retirement Wishes for Dads

Military Appreciation Quotes for Retirement

• “The brave die never, though they sleep in dust: Their courage nerves a thousand living men” – Minot J. Savage
• “We sleep safely at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence on those who would harm us” – Winston Churchill
• “When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death – that is heroism” – Robert Green Ingersoll
• “There is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer” Gen. James H. Doolittle
• “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave” – E. Davis
• “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” -John Quincy Adams
• “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” – Joseph Campbell
• “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks” – James Allen
• “For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
• “The patriot’s blood is the seed of freedom’s tree” – Thomas Campbell

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Military Retirement Quotes for Plaques

• “Retirement has been a discovery of beauty for you. I never had the time before to notice the beauty of your grand kids, your wife, and the tree outside your very own front door. And, the beauty of time itself” – Hartman Jule
• “I think there is one higher office than president and I would call that patriot” – Gary Hart
• “This flag may fade but these colors don’t run” – Charles M. Province
• “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country”- Nathan Hale
• “And they live tradition; the United States Marine bears upon his shoulders the nation’s past and the nation’s hopes for the future” – Hanson W. Baldwin
• “No man is entitled to the blessings of freedom unless he be vigilant in its preservation” – Gen. Douglas MacArthur
• “Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die” – G.K. Chesterton

SEE MORE: Happy Retirement Messages for Friends

Showing respect to those who have retired from a military career is only right. You should try to send your best wishes and congratulate them on their career.

Using one of these military retirement quotes shows you may not be able to understand what it was like to serve yourself but are making the effort to honor their service.