These are good
JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when
DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US
military out of France as soon as possible.
Rusk responded,
"Does that include those who are buried here?"
DeGuale did not respond..
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the
Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of
'empire building' by George Bush.
He answered by saying, "Over the years, the United States has sent many of
its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom
beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for
in return is enough to bury those that did not
return."
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There was a conference in France where a number of international engineers
were taking part, including French and American. During a break,
one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, "Have you
heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft
carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intend to do,
bomb them?"
A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: "Our carriers have three
hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are
nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to
shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to
feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand
gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a
dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and
from their flight deck. We have eleven such ships;
how many does France have?"
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included
Admirals from the U.S. , English, Canadian, Australian and French
Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large
group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a
French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked, "Why is it that
we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than
speaking French?"
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the
Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't
have to speak German."
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport
in his carry on.
"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously.
"Then you should know enough to have your passport ready."
The American said, "The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it."
"Impossible. Americans always have to show their passports on arrival in France !"
The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look.
Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in
1944 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find a single Frenchmen to show a passport to."
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We are proud to be American!!!!!
AWESOME post, Mona! And yeah for the 83 year-old vet. I would like to shake his hand, among others.
Aren't they wonderful replies? I was impressed and so proud.
They are great Mona, we do have so much to be proud of don't we!
Amazing stories Mona. Heart warming. Thanks.
Hi Mona,
Wonderful post and so true. I haven't been to Normandy, but I have visited the 1st World War battlefields in France, including one quite large American one. Seen lots of Canadian graves too with their maple leaf.
Regards
Margaret
I love it, Mona! It sometimes gets tiresome to hear slams against America so it's always fun to read replies like these.
Wonderful, Mona!
I also think it's time people remembered how this nation has helped the rest of the world, only to have the people we help thumb their noses at us, then expect more help.
Awesome post, Mona! God Bless The USA.
I had seen this before, one of my friends sent it to me last year, but I still read it again with pride and prehaps a tear or two. God Bless America!
Mona, I particularly like Colin Powell's reply, that the only land we ask is enough to bury our dead. My grandmother's first husband (not my grandfather) is buried in France. He was killed in WWI. We have a picture of the grave site with the white cross. Very touching. When my grandmother was in the hospital the last time I awoke in the middle of the night to hear her speaking in French. I'd never heard her utter a word of French in my entire life! She said she was practicing some phrases he'd taught her. I think he came for her and they were speaking French! Touching, even if it wasn't my own grandfather who came for her. I think the first husband might have been the great love of her life.
Wonderful, Mona!
I also think it's time people remembered how this nation has helped the rest of the world, only to have the people we help thumb their noses at us, then expect more help.
Wonderful post. Thanks for having it there to remind us.
I wonder how many of you heard of the Egyptian Al Alamein cemeteries that extend for miles on the Mediterranean Coast, West of Alexandria. The battle of Alamein took place bewtween German General Romel and the British and American troupes in WWII. We walked for an hour reading names and especially ages ranging from 17 to 40 of men who lost their lives here. not too far, at the beach of Marsa Matrouh, a gorgeous honeymooners beach, we swam for 45 minutes deep until we reached the Romel Rock. A huge rock you can enter to visit and see Romel's desk still there. It was his hiding place.
Hi Mona,
Yes, I have certainly heard of the battle of El Alamein, my father-in-law fought in it. The Australians were there and suffered heavy casualties. He missed out on the battle in Tobruk through illness, but my father's cousin fought there. The Australians at Tobruk inflicted Rommel's first defeat and stopped him taking over the port of Tobruk. They lived in holes under the ground for about three months. Rommel called them the Rats of Tobruk, because he thought they were caught like rats in a trap. Naturally, even now, the few survivors from that battle are proud to be called The Rats of Tobruk.
Unfortunately, many countries have short memories when it comes to the soldiers who came from so far away and fought so valiantly to save them.
Actually, the ingratitude sickens me.
Margaret
MONA!! I LOVE THIS!!! That last one brought tears to my eyes, girl! Fantastic blog. Thanks so much for sharing this with us all--I wish I could think of quick responses like these people all did--I always think of them LATER and think "I should have said, blah blah blah."
Margaret, I am with you --the ingratitude sickens me, too. Even some of the younger generation here in the USA (don't know about elsewhere) falls short on patriotism in many respects. I believe EVERY PERSON here should have to read that short story THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY. We had to in high school, and I have never forgotten it.
Cheryl
Cheryl
Beautiful post, Mona. Boy, you really could have heard a pin drop after the 83 year old vet spoke.