TMcL

Remember the time when our former president and other politicians tended 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
DeGaulle decided to pull out of NATO’s military alliance. 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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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, Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's and 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."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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."

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Charles DeGualle, resented Winston Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin, because he felt exempted from the Allies Power Club. He felt disrespected. Which is why he kicked America out of France. He wanted France to be an equal power to America. Which he never achieved. But, he did instill a high p***e of being French, like no other leader since Napoleon. D-Day under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower, saved France. Not Charles DeGualle.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Very good reminder. I remember some of these comments when they occured and were reported.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

will47 Loc: Indianapolis, IN

Yes, I remember Obama's apology tour.

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

Good ones!

tbpmusic Loc: LaPorte, Indiana

Oh fun - France-bashing!!
I wanna play..........
Behold the French Army Knife.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Joe Blow

Mostly debunked garbage to appease those who think a f**g lapel pin is all that is needed.

***

Dean Rusk did not ask DeGaulle about the bodies on his own. It was President Johnson that sent Rusk to ask HIS question. France withdrew from NATO in 1966, JFK had been dead for 2 1/2 years.

The Colin Powell incident is taken out of context. That was only a small portion of a long answer to an abstract question from a former Archbishop.

The tsunami / aircraft carrier question is unattributed. That means it can't be checked. It too is unlikely though simply because the French also have a nuclear carrier, the FS Charles de Gaulle, that was sent to assist in the tsunami rescue. Any French engineer would be aware of the deGaulle's capabilities.

Your French Admiral asking about language is also unattributed to source, when, where, or participants. And is also highly unlikely. All Canadian Admirals speak French as all General Staff must be bilingual. Most British admirals do speak a second language, French being very common due to the British Navy's joint exercises with other navies. It is very common for American General Staff to speak a second language.

"Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83", would have been nine years old in 1944. That means it is highly unlikely he landed on the beaches of France on D-Day.

***

It is great to be proud of your country. Geeze, there are a lot of things for Americans to be proud of. Inventing things or reposting false and unsubstantiated postings does no one any good.

Doddy Loc: Barnard Castle-England

There seems to be a lot of animosity shown towards the French by many Americans. The French sent arms and men to assist the young republic in their fight for Independence from the British, their navy attacked British ships coming across the Atlantic crippling vital supplies and reinforcements. Without French aid American Independence would probably have taken a lot longer with many more casualties.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

You really h**e America don't you.

DJ Mills Loc: Idaho

Good one!

tbpmusic Loc: LaPorte, Indiana

Just because we as Americans poke fun at France, it doesn't mean we dislike them or we don't appreciate them in historical perspective.
I'm guessing the French say a lot worse things about Americans.