Victory or death
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Victory or death is the literal translation from Scottish Gaelic of the clan MacNeil motto, bàs no buaidh or buaidh no bàs [1], used by the MacNeills and MacDougalls amongst others.
This motto was borrowed by the 32nd Armored Regiment of the United States Army. It is visible on the yellow-and-red regimental emblem in some photographs of Elvis Presley during his Army service in Germany with that regiment, and in his later film "G.I. Blues". The emblem also appears on the black beret seen in the 1986 film "Ferris Buellers Day Off".
The Maniots of the Mani Peninsula in Greece used "Victory or Death" as their motto in 1821 when they joined the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire.
Lt. Col. William Barrett Travis signed "Victory or Death!" at the end of the last letter sent from the Alamo Mission in San Antonio during the Battle of the Alamo (February 23 - March 6, 1836).
It is chanted by the starfighters in The Last Starfighter.
"Victory or Death" was also an order given to Erwin Rommel and Friedrich Paulus at the Second Battle of El Alamein (October 23 - November 3, 1942) and the Battle of Stalingrad (August 21, 1942 - February 2, 1943), respectively, by Adolf Hitler in 1942.
It was also used as code words by George Washington at the battle of Trenton NJ during the surprise attack of Dec 25 /26 1776 (Source: "1776"- David McCullough - Penguin UK 4 May 2006)
Axl Rose, Guns N' Roses frontman, has the emblem tattooed on his left arm.
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