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This does NOT
represent any political party relationship on my part:
:
At a
time when many people 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 country.
JFK’s
Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was
in France in the early 60’s when Charles DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO.
He said he wanted all U.S. 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 international conference Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop
of Canterbury if
our plans for Iraq were
just an example of American empire building.
Powell
replied, “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 who did
not return.”
You
could have heard a pin drop.
There
was a conference in France in which a number of international engineers were
taking part, including French and American. During a break one of the French
engineers came back into to room and said, “Have you heard the latest dumb stunt
by the Americans? They are sending an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to
help the tsunami victims. What do they 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 power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias onboard
that can 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 the flight
deck. We have eleven such ships. How many does France have?”
You
could have heard a pin drop.
An
admiral of the U.S. navy was attending a naval conference that included admirals
from English, Canadian, Australian and French navies.
That
evening, at a cocktail party, he found himself standing with several officers
from those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their
drinks. Suddenly, a French admiral 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 Admiral replied. “Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians,
Aussies and Americans arranged it so you would not have to speak
German.”
You
could have heard a pin drop.
And,
Robert
Whiting, an
83-year-old American, flew into Paris. At
French Customs he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry-on
bag.
“You
have been to France before, Monsieur?”, the customs officer asked
sarcastically.
Mr.
Whiting replied 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,”
the customs officer said. “Americans always have to show their passports on
arrival in France.”
The
elderly American gave the customs officer a long hard look, and then quietly
said, “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 my passport to.”
You
could have heard a pin drop.
So I
think I would like to say:
We
are not perfect, we Americans. We have many faults, as individuals and as a
nation. Yet, when people need help they come to us. Sometimes it means financial
aid, or food, water, medical, engineering, teaching.
And
sometimes it means dying.
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