RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

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 was 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 t***sporting 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 French?"

Without hesitating, the American admiral replied, "Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German."

You could have heard a pin drop.
----------------------------

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 before. "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.

jay-are

Good job putting down the French.

I am sure you will have a similar rant against Conservatives coming soon.

vernon

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

Pretty good post, from a 'centrist', Chief. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup::wink::mrgreen:

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

:thumbup: Patriotic Class Acts -- all of them, with razor sharp wit!! Thanks for sharing some truly great anecdotes.

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

Think you missed the boat here, or just ignored it. Really, was that your best salvo? Shoulda, coulda, oughta have saved the key bytes and the space they have taken up. :hunf:

bobgssc

I think one thing everyone seemed to miss here is that leaders of old had the cajones to stand up for America. Our current "Commander in Chief" would never do this because he prefers to bow down to other leaders. The day of the greats has passed, thank you.

Kevyn

If it wasn't for French support during the American Revolution we would have a Queen today, it. is interesting how so many consertives are so focused on our founding but forget the critical role played by our good French friends in securing our freedom.

bobgssc

As a conservative with 20 years military experience, I can assure you that the reason the French get picked on isn't because we forgot they helped us back then. Every time we needed them to give us a hand (including letting us fly over their country on our way to missions in various countries), they turned their backs on us. The poor perception of the French and their friendship with us is a current thing, not a forgotten past. Oh wait, you were talking about something called consertives, my mistake, I have no experience there.

AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

I bow to your superiority in choosing these quotes and providing them as a topic.

:thumbup:

Searching Loc: Rural Southwest VA

:thumbup: good catch as well!!

Constitutional libertarian Loc: St Croix National Scenic River Way

Oh please do you really think a French king gave a rats ass about our freedom from England. They were in the middle of what could have been termed a world war with England. Every englishman and ship tied up fighting us was one less the French had to engage.

His post had no political spin on it other than our never ending willingness to fight for not only our freedom but people around the world.

Be proud of your country it's well founded.

Ricko Loc: Florida

Kevyn-so instead of a Queen we ended up with a self proclaimed King. Good Luck America !!!

Coos Bay Tom Loc: coos bay oregon

:thumbup:

RetNavyCWO Loc: VA suburb of DC

I think it's a shame that some people here could not just accept those anecdotes for what they are: expressions of patriotism for the greatest country that has ever existed! Patriots inhabit both the left and the right of the political spectrum. Why not embrace our similarities and tolerate our differences?