History!! - Good to Remember
Ever wonder what happens when you forget history or are nationally arrogant?
JFK'S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60's when De Gaulle decided to pull out of NATO. De Gaulle said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded "Does that include those who are buried here?"
You could have heard a pin drop
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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.
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A Royal Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., British, 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, the English 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 British Admiral replied, 'Maybe it's because the Brit's, Canadians, Aussie's, South Africans, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German…'
You could have heard a pin drop.
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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 Englishman said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it." "Impossible. You English always have to show your passports on arrival in France!" The English senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained, ''Well, when I came ashore at Gold 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.
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If you are proud to be an American, British, Canadian, Australian, South African, or a New Zealander pass this on!
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Footnote:
When 70-year-old Benjamin Franklin boarded the Continental sloop of war Reprisal in Philadelphia in October 1776 for a month’s long voyage to France, Gen George Washington’s Continental Army was losing the American Revolutionary War against the English. With the ink not yet dry on the 1776 Declaration of Independence, that document was looking like wrapping paper.
(This was back in the day when England, France and Spain were expanding their colonial empires - this was not without friction between them).
France, previously defeated by the English in the Seven Year’s War ending 1763, lost most of its claim to North America including all of Canada to England. In early 1776 France agreed and started providing covert support to Washington – badly needed gunpowder.
When the Continental army finally defeated the British at Saratoga in 1777 it was estimated that as many as 9 out of 10 American solders carried French guns, used French gunpowder, and French field guns. Franklin persuaded the French on this result to directly participate.
There followed the French Navy (West Indies based) under de Grasse 1778-79 to defeat British Navy which was blockading the ports, and 5000 troops led by Rochambeau in 1780 combined with Washington to trap and besiege the British Army of Cornwallis at Yorktown. La Fayette had paid his own way to join the Continental Army, and his troops blocked any escape routes from Yorktown. Eventually Cornwallis surrendered on 19.10.1781.
Cost to France was 1.3 billion livres or 100m pounds. Eventually led to financial destabilisation in France and the French Revolution 1789.
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