"No, don't be sorry. It was an honor. It is an honor. To live for them. To suffer for them. To fight for them. To die for them. That's the greatest honor, to die protecting what's most important." He lifted a hand to smooth back through her hair. "To fight so other people don't have to. To be the one watching out for the men and women that are fighting at your side. It's an honor. And a privilege. And anything they needed of me, I gave it, and I still would. A lot of Spartans did, and a lot of them died in the process, to become soldiers. But that's what Spartans are, River. We're soldiers. And it's okay to spend the life of a soldier.. but it's never okay to waste it. You understand the difference?"
Dying, suffering, anything that had to do with the experiments, the fighting -- all of it was for a good cause, ultimately. And the Spartans were proud to serve.
Well. Some were. Others had began to question it. Like Tex. But York had an unwavering sense of loyalty.