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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Then 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 intended 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 Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so
you wouldn't have to speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour.
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 your 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 any Frenchmen to show it to.'
You could have heard a pin drop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Is A Veteran? A Veteran -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or
reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made
payable to 'The United States of America', for an amount up to and including his
life. That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who
no longer understand that fact