Thanks to my buddy Charllie Thackston for sharing
this with me!
I had not read these before. Outstanding!
At a time when our president and other politicians
tend to apologize for our country’s prior actions,
here’s a refresher on how some of our former
patriots handled negative comments about
the United States.
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
OmahaBeach 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FROM DALE: As I read this it may appear to be
a knock on the French. I know the French people
get a bad rap.
I have been to France and was treated very well.
Every time I travel outside the United States I
am reminded how thankful I am to be born in
this country.
It is not perfect, and there is not a day goes
by that I don’t feel like we spend far too much
time paying far too much attention to the
minority.
This country has always believed in Freedom,
and Free Enterprise that is one of the reasons
that we have been blessed.
We have clients and customers from all over
the world who are fortunate to live in
countries who allow free enterprise.