VIva la France

Pin Drop

      Once upon a time when our politicians did
not tend  to apologize for our country's prior actions, here's a refresher
on how  some of our former patriots handled negative comments about our
great  country. 
               
               
                
               These are good... 
               
                
               JFK'S 
               
               Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in
France in the early 60's when 
               
               DeGaulle decided to pull out of    NATO. 
               
               DeGaulle said he wanted all US military out
of  France as soon as possible. 
               Rusk    responded, 
               "Does that include those who are buried
here?" 

           DeGaulle 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 Frenchman 
   to show a passport to." 
   
    
   You 
   could have heard a pin drop. 
   
    
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~