*
Sometimes the rest of the world needs a quick upside the head whack verbally when they get obnoxious about America.* No we are not perfect,*but as these people made the point we ain't so bad either.* We need to remember it, and not be ashamed for what we have as a result of our freedom and hard work.
*
*
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 our country.
*
*
*
*
*JFK'S*
Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in*France*in the early 60's when*
DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. *DeGaule said he wanted all*US*
military out of*France*as soon as possible.
*
*Rusk responded,
"Does that include those who are buried here?"
*
*DeGaule*
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 Frenchmen*
to show a passport to."
You*
could have heard a pin drop.