You Could Have Heard a Pin Drop...

[HappyChristian]

Got this in my email. It's something....

When in England, at a fairly large conference, Condi Rice was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building' by George Bush.
She 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 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.
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 speak English in these conferences rather than 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...
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.

[IM4given]

:coffee

[Guest Guest]

Hmm, very interesting.
Thanks for sharing, ma'am.
God bless,
Crushmaster.

[no name joe]

But what amounts of oil have we asked for?

[Alimantado]

As some of those anecdotes imply the French are cowards, I'd like to invite anyone who isn't interested in this kind of stereotyping to give a nod sometime to the 1.6 million French soldiers who died in the two world wars--all individuals who fought for their friends and families.

[HappyChristian]

As some of those anecdotes imply the French are cowards' date=' I'd like to invite anyone who isn't interested in this kind of stereotyping to give a nod sometime to the 1.6 million French soldiers who died in the two world wars--all individuals who fought for their friends and families.[/quote']


I don't think they imply cowardice on anyone's part!!! I think what they show is that many times people, including the French, forget what the Americans have done for them.

kind - we pay for the oil we get. We pay for it. We've received NOTHING free from any of these countries (save the Statue of Liberty, from the French), and we have cancelled many a debt as well as saved many a life. No, we aren't perfect. But we've done good things in this world, and that is what this thread was about.

[Alimantado]

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.'

If the point of that last story was just that the Customs Officer was ignorant of the elderly man's sacrifice on his behalf, it could have finished with something like, 'I didn't show my passport last time because I was at Omaha Beach fighting for your freedom.' Instead it finished by making two points: the elderly man was at Omaha and the French were no-where to be seen.

I can't think of any reason for the story to state that the elderly gentleman didn't encounter any French on the battlefield other than to imply that the French are cowards. Perhaps I'm being uncharitable, though. Can you think of another reason?

As far as Rice's comment is concerned (if that conversation ever actually happened), I don't believe the US has fought many wars that weren't mostly motivated by self-interest--but the same goes for every other nation. IMO, acknowledging that doesn't take away from the good the US has done for lots of countries, regardless of the motivation, or from the sacrifices of individuals.

[PastorHarrison]

How demonstrative and irrefutable is the truth...

[HappyChristian]

Of course, all of these conversations could be apocryphal! But re: the story you're talking of - there were no Frenchman on the beach at Omaha when the Americans landed. I'm sure that's what he was referencing. Perhaps, if this conversation is accurate, it was more a reaction to the Frenchman's sarcasm. Many of the younger generation don't realize what the older generation has done for us - not just in America, but everywhere.

[Alimantado]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this. :smile The story isn't merely pointing out a historical fact, otherwise it could equally point out that the Turks weren't there, or the Icelandic. It's a story and the reference is designed to say something.

Anyway, I can heartily affirm your reasons for posting these stories, even though I think some of them say a bit more than what you intended!

[HappyChristian]

We'll have to agree to disagree on this. :smile The story isn't merely pointing out a historical fact, otherwise it could equally point out that the Turks weren't there, or the Icelandic. It's a story and the reference is designed to say something.

Anyway, I can heartily affirm your reasons for posting these stories, even though I think some of them say a bit more than what you intended!

Well, yeah, sorry if I offended with the idea that any of the stories were accusing the French of cowardice. I don't think it was, and I don't think any other nationality was included simply because he was talking to a Frenchman! But, I guess it's all in the way we read something!

Just so you know - my husband is of French heritage. The DePriest family here in America began from Robert Depress of France. He was a Huegenot who fled after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, landed in VA in 1689. So, I in no way intended for anyone to think I was dissing the French!!! :Green

[Alimantado]

Nope! It's me who needs to apologise for not giving you the benefit of the doubt in the first place. :ooops

Thanks for the family history. I've no idea where my family are from. My great-grandparents all came from London but I haven't looked further back than that. Pretty sure they're not frogs though.....oops did I just say that?! :frog

[John81]

Well, after Napoleon the French haven't really amounted to much militarily. They couldn't handle the Mexicans in the mid-1800s. They lost and couldn't retake their caribean island to poorly armed slaves. In World War One there were high numbers of deserters and constant talk of giving up. Were it not for the British pressuring them to stay in the fight and the constant behind scenes messages that America would join them as soon as they could arrange things, the French would have given up and allowed the Germans to keep a sizable chunk of France. In Word War Two the French military, the largest and supposedly best army in Europe (some said in the world) were handily routed and half the country gave up and basically joined with Hitler. The Vichy French were among the most ardent of those who sought out Jews and turned them over to the Gestapo. For a certainty, without American help France would have remained under Nazi control.

With all that, the French have been very haughty and carried a rather holier-than-thou attitude towards America for the past several decades. Does anyone recall how the French were towards America during the Reagan years? Or even recently during the Bush years?

I don't personally have anything against France or the French of those of French background, but it is good to face the truth.

[HappyChristian]

Pretty sure they're not frogs though.....oops did I just say that?! :frog

tsk ,tsk!

[John81]

Nope! It's me who needs to apologise for not giving you the benefit of the doubt in the first place. :ooops

Thanks for the family history. I've no idea where my family are from. My great-grandparents all came from London but I haven't looked further back than that. Pretty sure they're not frogs though.....oops did I just say that?! :frog

An ancestor of my wife was a mayor of London. I can't recall the date off hand, but I do know it was well before America was even a colony.