Four short stories

LOL

Good ones Morfoot, will have to tell those to our German friends from the Malibu Showteam... They are from Frankfurt

Riley,

I agree with you on the fact that your countiry has done more than it's share in helping others.
I've been from Normandy to the Ardennes to see how you freed us from the Nazi regime, so I know my history...
And every response I get on this site proves to me that you Americans are always willing to help. That's why I appreciate my new friends here so much!

BUT...Belgium is a small country with an army of somewhat 40.000 actives, that has always been ready to help as a NATO partner. As small as our country and our army is, we're active in some 20 countries to help our NATO friends (Yougoslavia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Zaire,... are a few of them).

What I said about the French is true in general, they have the idea that everybody should bow for France (it's a Louis XIV and Napoleon thing...). It is true in general, but not all the French people think that way.
Same thing goes for Germany: you can't keep blaming them for WW II, for they too help out their NATO partners nowadays.

So, I for one will always jump in to help keep our free world FREE. And the good thing is: I know my back is covered!

The French...

"De Gaulle gave clout to the once weak French presidency and stabilized France. But jealous of the Churchill-Roosevelt wartime bond, he remained a passionate anti-Atlanticist with a long memory. In 1963, still irate over Britain's cave-in to U.S. pressure to pull back from Suez in 1956, he vetoed Britain's application to join the European Economic Community. (His successors obstructed the entry of Spain and Portugal.) The following year, he withdrew France from the nato military command and asked President Lyndon Johnson to remove U.S. troops from France. A seething Secretary of State Dean Rusk flew to Paris to seek clarification: "Does your order include the bodies of American soldiers in France's cemeteries?"

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. It became very quiet in the room.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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 pulled? 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 thatcan 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?' Once again, dead silence.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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 tha whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these onferences 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. You Americans always have to show your passports upon 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."