Proud To Be An American
Hat tip: Rob Shepherd
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.
*****
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.
*****
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 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 a single Frenchmen to show a passport to.”
You could have heard a pin drop.
June 25th, 2008 at 4:59 am
Zelda, those are great! (I’ve heard the Colin Powell one before). Do you mind if I “borrow” this (with a tip of the hat, of course) when I get posting again?
June 25th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Be my guest Joe!
June 25th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Fantastic…I’m also looking to “overtly rip-off” a few of these pin drops.
June 25th, 2008 at 9:53 am
Hi JZ!
You can “overtly rip off whatever you want.” Just link back to my post by clicking on the title.