Thursday, July 31, 2008

Makes one stop and think!

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.
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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 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 Brits, Canadians, Aussies 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...

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.
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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.

8 comments:

raccoonlover1963/Lisa Myers said...

Awesome post, Patty!
Lisa

Anonymous said...

These are oh so true. Glad you posted it.

Wanda said...

Hip Hip Hooray!!! What an inspiring post and so true.

BTW ~~ called and left a message with the C of C in the town where I saw the metal tree...about 10 minutes from our home.
I haven't been by at night to see if it in lit up. I will check about the fire station next! I'm on a roll now.

Still can't find out much about the "Bird House", but still working on that one too.

Ain't life grand~

Jack and Joann said...

Today the problem is that we have eliminated the draft. In the past when we were "at war" everyone knew we were "at war" because they might have themselves or someone in their family called to serve whether they wanted to or not. Eliminating the draft was a mistake.

Jack and Joann said...

Today the problem is that we have eliminated the draft. In the past when we were "at war" everyone knew we were "at war" because they might have themselves or someone in their family called to serve whether they wanted to or not. Eliminating the draft was a mistake.

Betsy Brock said...

I absolutely loved this!

Renie Burghardt said...

Great post and great reminder of all the sacrifices and good the USA has done all over the world, asking very little in return. Thank you for posting this, Patty.

Good night!

Renie

Nancy said...

So true! I have had this a long time ago, but it was like reading it as new again! Is it my age or has my memory gone bad on me? LOL

(((((( HUGS ))))))