“老兵永远不死，只是会逐渐消亡。”这句话是什么意思？

西点的军歌唱道，“老兵永远不死，他只是凋零”（Old soldiers never die. They just fade away），麦克阿瑟在国会的演讲使这句话广被引用。

“老兵永远不死，只会慢慢凋零”（Old soldiers never die, they just fade away），就不由得想起那个叼着玉米棒子烟斗的麦克阿瑟，和他在1951年4月19日被解职后在国会大厦发表的题为《老兵不死》演讲，于是许多人把这句名言归在麦帅名下，其实在那篇演讲里就提到了，这句话是来自于一首军歌的副歌那首歌的歌词如下：

Old Soldiers Never Die

There is an old cookhouse, far far away
Where we get pork and beans, three times a day.
Beefsteak we never see, damn-all sugar for our tea
And we are gradually fading away.

cho: Old soldiers never die,
Never die, never die,
Old soldiers never die
They just fade away.

Privates they love their beer, 'most every day.
Corporals, they love their stripes, that's what they say.
Sergeants they love to drill. Guess them bastards always will
So we drill and drill until we fade away.