MT4XFore
Well-Known Member
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 '44 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 of '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.
