Hello everyone,
I received this in my email a while back and thought it was worth sharing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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.
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.